“If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also” (1 John 4:20-21).
John’s words ring so true. Men have been “made in the similitude of God” (James 3:9). Thayer defines the word “similitude”, 1) a making like; 2) likeness. When we combine the facts that men are made like God, and our Christian brethren have the motivations, principles and character that He personifies, it is simply not possible to have love for Him and animus for them.
Further, we profess a love for God when we know Him only by Faith. We have not seen Him. We know of His character and person only as they are revealed in His word, His creation, and His providential care for us. That doesn’t mean our profession of love is not true. But, our brethren we know experientially. We see them, converse with them, live with them, worship with them, work with them. If we hate them, our profession of love for the God they emulate is demonstrably hollow.
If we truly love God, we will keep His commandments (cf. John 14:15). “And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.”
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