1 John Part 17

We love because he first loved us. 20If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. 21And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother. 1 John 4:19-21

The beginning of this passage is so important: We love because he first loved us. He set the example for loving the unlovable, and we are to follow. He also gave us the power of loving the unlovable.

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:6-8

John commanded us to love our brother. No one needs to command us to love those who are easily lovable - the pleasant, friendly, kind- the people who serve our purposes. So the command is to love those whom it is difficult or against our nature to love. Because Christ died for us while we were still sinners, we are to love our brothers whom we don't like for one reason or another. Or maybe we'd be inconvenienced somehow by showing love: going to a neighborhood we wouldn't normally frequent, giving money we'd rather keep, spending a weekend working instead of relaxing, you get the idea.

And "our brother" refers to fellow Christians, I believe. Not that we shouldn't love those outside the church, but God also has great concern about the relationships between his children, fellow believers. No good parent wants to see his kids fight with one another, but how much it must grieve God to see people who have been redeemed by His blood fighting with one another. It takes a perfect God like ours to put up with us.

Praise Him always!