If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?
1 John 4:20
Recommended Reading: 1 John 4:17-21
Do you know a “difficult” person? Perhaps in your family, church, or workplace. Do they get on your nerves? There were difficult people in the Bible too. Take Nabal, for example. He was “surly and mean in his dealings” (1 Samuel 25:3, NIV). Even his wife, Abigail, called him a “wicked man” and said, “He is just like his name—his name means Fool, and folly goes with him” (1 Samuel 25:25, NIV). Yet Abigail persuaded David to be forbearing, and the Lord took care of Nabal at the right time.
It is extremely hard to love “Nabals,” but God can give you a patient, forbearing spirit. Dale Carnegie said, “Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain—and most fools do. But it takes character and self-control to be understanding and forgiving.”1 When we meet Christ, we experience His love for us—the unlovely. And we can ask for that same love to flow through us.
Why not take a moment now to pray for that difficult person in your life?
Not everyone is your brother or sister in the faith, but everyone is your neighbor, and you must love your neighbor.
Timothy Keller
- Dale Carnegie, How to Win Friends and Influence People (Simon & Schuster, 1981), 14.
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