We love because he first loved us. 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. (NIV)

This particular book of the Bible was written by an unknown author who never states his name. The early church attributes 1 John to an early church leader whose name was either John or someone who was greatly influenced by the disciple John, who actually walked with Jesus. Biblical historians place its writing around 100 A.D., which is important because by this time there were second and third generations of believers. Over time, certain thoughts had crept into Christian discipleship from the existing culture, such as a works-based religion being more important than living through the grace of Jesus’s work on the cross. This “creep” was characteristic of the first century church and was part of the reason for this writing.

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These verses drip with the heart of a pastor caring for his flock. At the time, most other religions required doing certain things to gain the gods’ favor.  In contrast, the author of 1 John is passionate about love. “We love because he first loved us” is not sequential reasoning but, instead, explains that the reason we love is because God loves. It is a statement of source; love has its origin in God. We are able to love the way God intends because God shows us how to love through the life of Jesus. On the flip side, we are told not to “hate a brother or sister.” Hate is a strong word that gets easily thrown around in today’s culture; we might say despise. What is more, it's not just our siblings we’re cautioned against despising, but all those we interact with.

Today’s passage calls us to show God’s love to all the people we see. Not just our siblings, or even just our brothers and sisters in Christ, but all people we interact with: family, co-workers, people at church or school. By our human nature, the people we’re closest to are those we have the strongest feelings for, whether positive or negative. Additionally, often people or situations make it difficult for us to love well. This is where living out the loving of others gets difficult.

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For newlyweds, loving each other is not that hard. On the other hand, what about that difficult person who has maybe hurt us, who is frankly a selfish jerk, or who we tend to always disagree with? We are called to love others, which is easier said than done.  

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How to love all others, though? This is what the writer dives into. We can’t make ourselves switch our feelings of despising others into feelings of love on a dime, like a poorly thought-out New Year resolution. We can try to love others better from our own will, but that ultimately fails. But, when our motivation comes from a heart of gratitude for how and why God loves us, that’s how a change in our heart happens. Only the Holy Spirit working in us can change our hearts to love those we would rather despise. That growth takes time, but because God is the author of love, he is the source that will eventually lead to the love of all others.

My Father, Author of love, place before me those I need to love better. By sitting with the truth that you love me, help me to love the difficult people in my life. Give me patience for the process and let me see them as you do, as image bearers worthy of love. Amen.