Theme: THE GOLDEN RULE
Text: “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.” – 1 John 4:20, 21.
Comment: Hatred is a vice which all true worshippers of God should abhor. Anyone who enters the service of God for worship and nurses animosity, envy, grievance, etc against his brother or sister, is deceiving himself. Apostle John in the text for today, makes us to understand that anyone who does not love his brother or sister cannot say he loves God Almighty. “Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.” – 1 John 4:11, 12.
In this vein, it is expected that we settle the scores amongst us and live in peace and unity so that God Almighty will be pleased with us. Again, our love should not be mere lip service but we should try as much as possible to show, demonstrate and exhibit this godly virtue from time to time for our blessings. It was Apostle John who said in 1 John 3:18: “… let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.”
Moreover, St. Paul wrote, “But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another. And indeed ye do it toward all the brethren which are in all Macedonia: but we beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more and more.” – 1 Thessalonians 4:9, 10.