If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.
1 John 4:20 ESV
Is there anyone in your life you absolutely refuse to talk to?
When James and Yna moved into a new neighborhood, they soon realized they lived next door to some very unpleasant neighbors. The older man and woman ignored any friendly greeting. When James and Yna’s young sons went next door to politely ask for a ball they’d lost over the fence, the boys came home in tears—and with no ball.
“That’s it,” Yna fumed as she marched next door and told her neighbors they were horrible people. After that, she never tried to speak to them again. Years passed.
Then one day, the woman came to their door with a big smile. “I wanted to introduce myself!” she said. “I live next door. I had a brain tumor—but I’ve had surgery and it’s gone!” All those years, James and Yna had gone to church and Bible study. They’d gone on mission trips. But they never spoke to the neighbors.
A philosopher once pointed out, “Love to God and love to neighbor are like two doors that open simultaneously. It is impossible to open the one without opening the other, and impossible to shut the one without also shutting the other.” [1]
God’s book, the Bible says, “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen” (1 John 4:20 ESV).
We can’t claim to love God and close our hearts to the people right next door. Maybe today, it’s time to knock on a door you’ve long left closed.
[1] Kierkegaard, Søren. Works of Love. Translated by Howard V. Hong and Edna H. Hong, Harper Perennial Modern Thought, 2009, p. 111.
