It Starts Small

John is a straight shooter here. He does not hold back or sugar coat the love of God. A person who hates and says they love God, is a liar. 

The Greek word for hate in this scripture is miseō and means to hate, pursue with hatred, detest. I have always thought detest was an interesting word. It is our polite English word for hate. I means to dislike intensely. 

Through out John’s first letter he points out six terrible lies:

People who claimed to have fellowship with Jesus but walked in darkness (1:6)

People who claimed they had sinned because they had redefined sin according to culture’s standards, calling God a liar. (2:4)

People who claimed to know Jesus but did not obey Him. (2:4)

People who claim to walk in light while hating their brothers. (2:9, 4:20)

People who claim to love God but love the world. (2:15)

People who deny Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, Good incarnate. (2:22)

I wished we had time to go through each of them, but for today, we are going to focus in the lie that People who claim to love God while hating others. When John spoke of hatred for others, he means the absence of love. That would be a no brainer, but ponder what we have learned so far. If Love is God and God is Love…. The hate of others is the absence of the flow of God’s love within us. We received God’s love and in return we turn and love others. It is an inevitable response to God’s love.

There is this false idea that we actually believe: we can love God and hate others. John busts the lie to bits with truth. We find in God’s Word that He hates the sins that take advantage of others because we are ALL made in the likeness of Him. We need to have a spiritual understanding of God’s love. It’s not just a characteristic, it is WHO God IS!

How do we discover God’s Love and Experience it?

Ask: Ask God to open your eyes so you can see His love fully. Never be ashamed of what you do not know. He loves us so much He desires us to know Him. We never offend God by asking to see and experience Him. In Paul’s letters to the Corinthians (chapter 1,3), he prayed for them to have a spiritual understanding opened to comprehending the love and Kingdom of God. 

Make it a Goal: Grow in the love of God! Building your relationship with Him does not happen over night and is not instantaneous. It is a process, but let it be a desire of your heart.

Discover: When we get anxious or apprehensive or an unhealthy fear of God, we need to discover why. Most often it is a lie the enemy has convinced us about the character of God. Discover why!

Is it because you do not know who God is?
Is it unrepentant sin?
You behaved unlovingly?

Don’t let the moment pass by without Holy Spirit introspection.

Jesus!: The enemy wants nothing more than to draw us to worldly solutions, but Jesus is the only way! He must have complete lordship over our lives.

The Enemy’s Hope: We need to learn the tactics of evil! It desires to drag you into hate. It desires to incite your emotions to respond with condemnation, judgment and to execute vengeance and human justice. 

Start Serving: Look for opportunities to serve! In Fellowship and service we find places to love others.

Pray for others.

Ponder: Do you love God? Do you hate others? The two are oil and water. What is God calling you to do today in response to honesty?

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