Loving God is Loving Neighbor

1 John 4:20: Loving God is Loving Neighbor

If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.

God shows himself in the most unsuspecting ways. We often look around and find imperfections in the world, especially in the people with whom we interact. “I find that person offensive and irritating,” we often say to each other and ourselves. When in the presence of that irritating, oppressive person, we should pause and ask the following question: “In what way is God asking me to love this person?” It is probably one of the most difficult questions to ask, for its answer often scares us.

Sharing work space with a difficult colleague is a challenge. A few years ago, I found myself in that situation. He and I did not have the same teaching or classroom management philosophy, and this made the professional end of our relationship a struggle: We often butted heads with how to approach lessons, manage the class, and teach content. As the year went on, I noticed that I was not the only one who had this problem with my colleague. Other people dreaded working with him, too. As problems arose in our class, I tried to compromise but felt that he refused to meet me halfway. I either had to concede to his way or become someone I was not comfortable being, a person prone to conflict. And I detest conflict. Time passed, and resentment toward my colleague welled up in my heart and psyche. I felt stressed, uncomfortable, and frustrated. What was I doing wrong?

Love in the biblical sense is not the kind of love we gravitate toward in 2018. Biblical love, the kind of love Jesus both teaches about and models, is a love of inclusion, welcome, sacrifice, and service. To love biblically doesn't mean we have to embrace or even like the person; it means we have to hope, care for, and be our best to the people we often like the least. How’s that for a challenge?

In my personal life, as in the example above, I often fail to love as Jesus teaches and models. Instead, I love myself, my own comfort, my preferences, my autonomy . . . my . . . my . . . As you can see, I often love selfishly. I often love, in the way that Linus points out in the Peanuts illustration above, according to vague lip service rather than the specificity of human engagement. I have a long way to go. Thankfully, I worship a God of unconditional love and patience.

I pray that we all let go of the self-centered hurdles in our spiritual love life and follow the advice Jesus gives: We need to love God above all things and, as important as this, to love our neighbor as ourselves.

Have a blessed week!

Stan