Our scripture this morning is 1 John 5:1-12.
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has become a child of God. And everyone who loves the Father loves his children, too. We know we love God’s children if we love God and obey his commandments. Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome. For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith. And who can win this battle against the world? Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God. And Jesus Christ was revealed as God’s Son by his baptism in water and by shedding his blood on the cross—not by water only, but by water and blood. And the Spirit, who is truth, confirms it with his testimony. So we have these three witnesses— the Spirit, the water, and the blood—and all three agree. Since we believe human testimony, surely we can believe the greater testimony that comes from God. And God has testified about his Son. All who believe in the Son of God know in their hearts that this testimony is true. Those who don’t believe this are actually calling God a liar because they don’t believe what God has testified about his Son. And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life.
John tells us that “everyone who loves the Father loves his children, too” (v. 1). Earlier in this letter (1 John 4:20) he writes “If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a fellow believer, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see?” Jesus taught the same lesson in the greatest commandment, that we must love one another just as we love God.
The part we have trouble with is we want to choose who to love the same way we love God, excluding those who don’t fit into our category of God’s children – as if we had anything to do with it. We are all created by God and He loves us no matter what our situation, and He calls us to love each other in the same way He does. If we choose God, we automatically choose all His children as well.
God showed us His love by sending Jesus to be part of our world and part of our lives. His example of love for everyone is the guidance we need for all our relationships. All of us are connected to God through Christ and if we claim that blessing, we claim kinship with all His children everywhere.
Loving Lord, we often judge and label others and use that as an excuse to avoid contact with them. Help us to see the image of God in His children that we may love one another as You have taught us. Amen.