March 31st, 2025
"Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister."
If you have siblings, you know that sometimes family can be the hardest to love. We spoke last week about honouring the image of God by loving our enemies, who are made in his image, a task that is challenging given the way our enemies are actively trying to hurt us. But what can make loving our family even more difficult than loving our enemies sometimes is the proximity and care we actually have for our family. Being sinned against by someone we call family usually hurts way more than any sin an enemy or stranger may commit against us.
The family we’re speaking about today is the family of our brothers and sisters in Christ. Loving our siblings in God can be difficult as well. Especially in our home church we call IFC, cultural and generational differences can add an extra element of complexity to what is already a complicated relationship with people we love. Nevertheless, this family, like all people, is also made in God's image and worthy of dignity, honour, and love. According to our scripture today, we have a special obligation to love our brothers and sisters in the faith.
A common theme we see throughout scripture, and in these verses, is the interconnectedness between love for God and others (Mark 12:30-31; Matthew 25:31-46). Due to the image of God and God being Love (1 John 4:8), there is a sense in which our treatment and love of others reflect the treatment and love we have towards God. This reality is all the more evident in relationships with fellow Christians, people who have been given the Holy Spirit to reside in our hearts (1 John 4:13), uniting us with God and each other. Thus, it is true that caring for the poor and the broken, or loving a fellow believer, is caring for and loving God in a real, tangible way.
The opposite is true as well, as it relates to our treatment of others. To hate another Christian is, in some real sense, to hate the God in whose image they were made. This truth is why we see the following sentiments in today’s verse:
“Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar…Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.”
To truly honour that all humans are made in the image of God, we must love and honour all people, especially fellow Christians. Committing to this act of love can be a difficult call, especially when it is more than likely that when walking side by side in faith with others, eventually, we will be hurt by this same family. However, one thing I love about Jesus is that he never asks us to do things he hasn’t done. Very similar to the motivation for loving our enemies, the motivation for loving fellow believers is stated in 1 John 4:19:
“We love because he first loved us”
Jesus chose to love those closest to him in his disciples, even when they betrayed him (Luke 22:54-62; John 21:15-19). Our saviour modelled a persistent love for those closest to him, which can be a model for how we love our fellow believers.
So how can we ensure we love other Christians well, especially those who belong to our church? The many instructions in Ephesians 4 can help us in this regard. Here is a quick summary:
God’s grace has saved you, and you belong to him (v.1), so be humble, gentle, patient and loving (v.2); strive for unity at all cost (v.3); be honest (v .25); don’t hold grudges (v.26-27); don’t harm one another but care for others (v.28); be encouraging (v.29); honour God with your actions (v.30) don’t gossip, let go of arguments (v.31); be kind, understanding and quick to forgive, as God has for you( v.32)
Although challenging, loving and honouring others is a choice everyone can make. Decide to love your fellow brothers and sisters!
Challenge
Read and meditate on Ephesians 4 this week. Consider how you can incorporate the advice of the chapter to love others from IFC better.