There are two great commandments that cover everything that is required from the life of everyone that has a relationship with God or is looking for one. Jesus Christ mentioned both in the Bible book of Matthew 22 vs 37 – 39. The first commandment he gave was: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” The second commandment was: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
In 1 John 2 vs 10 NRSV, the Apostle John explains: “whoever loves a brother or sister lives in the light, and in such a person there is not cause for stumbling.” In John 4 vs 11 NRSV, he goes deeper, saying: “Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another.”
God’s desire for relationship with us exists in the context of a relationship He desires with the world. He certainly wants me and you as individuals but an honest appraisal of God through the Bible shows that he is interested in the collective also. He wants a Christian family consisting of different tribes, nations and tongues.
Who God is and his behaviors are clear in the Bible. In John 3 vs 16, God’s love for the world was made clear. His love is not just me or for you, or for only holy and righteous or church-going people. No. God loves the world. We may each experience God’s love in an intensely specific way but that does not rule out that others experience His love just as specifically.
So, if we are looking for a connection with God, we must examine the state of the connection we have with the people around us who we encounter, see or hear of every day. If we want a positive relationship with God, we must have a positive relationship with the people around us. 1 John 4 vs 20 NRSV puts it like this: “Those who say “I love God,” and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen.”
If we are ever asking for God or if we have a desire for Him, we must give importance to His words. This happens by listening to Him, acting on what He says and knowing who He is. One very clear thing God has said is that He loves people. So, as proof of your interest in God or if you want to feel him in your life, you will need to share the same passions and goals as Him. It would be pointless to ask God to come into your life or into a situation you are going through if, at the same time, you intend to remain the opposite of who He is.
God loves people and we must do the same to have a positive relationship with Him. God does not hate people or any individual person. Instead, he hates the choices and actions that lead to separation between us and Him. More specifically, He hates all of the things that act as separators between us and Him, one of which is a lack of love for Him and the people around us.
So as you read this, if you hate someone or if you are holding on to hurt which you have being caused or if you are unforgiving or if you have no love in you, imagine if God was the same way to you. (He isn’t). Your relationship with others contains information about the true state of your heart. You may dislike what a particular person has done or the thing that has caused separation between you and them, but you should not hate them. If you want to relate with God and if you want God to be as real to you as your body is to you, you cannot hate them.
Ask God today to help you love like He loves.
That Christian Next Door 