If You Have No Love, You Have No Life

There are some verses in the Bible that are easy to read because they comfort us.

Then there are verses that turn around and look straight at us.

This is one of them.

“He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.”

— 1 John 3:14

That is not soft language.

John does not say the person is immature.

He does not say the person has a bad attitude.

He does not say the person needs to work on being nicer.

He says that person abideth in death.

That ought to stop us cold.

Because there are people who know the language of Christianity and still do not know how to love.

They know the verses.

They know the songs.

They know when to say amen.

They know how to talk about doctrine, holiness, sin, judgment, repentance, prophecy, and the end times.

They know how to point out everything that is wrong with everybody else.

But ask them about the person they hate.

Ask them about the family member they refuse to forgive.

Ask them about the church member they cannot stand.

Ask them about the person they quietly enjoy seeing fail.

Ask them about the one whose name changes their whole face.

Now we are getting closer.

Because Christianity is easy to perform around people you already like.

The test comes when you have been hurt.

The test comes when somebody embarrassed you, betrayed you, lied about you, walked away from you, used you, disappointed you, or wounded you deeply.

What lives in you then?

That is where this gets uncomfortable.

John writes:

“Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.”

— 1 John 3:15

We like to distance ourselves from the word murderer.

We think of blood.

We think of violence.

We think of prison cells and crime scenes.

But John drags hatred into the same room.

Why?

Because hatred destroys people in the heart before anything ever happens with the hands.

Hatred says, I do not care what happens to you.

Hatred says, I would be happier if you were gone.

Hatred says, your pain does not bother me.

Hatred says, I will hold this against you until the day I die.

And Scripture will not let us dress that up as strength.

It is not strength.

It is death working in the heart.

Jesus made love one of the clearest signs of discipleship.

“By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”

— John 13:35

Notice what He did not say.

He did not say people would know us because we won arguments.

He did not say they would know us because we were loud.

He did not say they would know us because we knew more Scripture than everyone around us.

He said love would mark us.

That does not mean sentimental weakness.

That does not mean agreeing with everyone.

That does not mean refusing to confront sin.

Jesus loved people and still told them the truth.

He loved the woman taken in adultery and still said, “go, and sin no more.”

He loved the rich young ruler and still let him walk away.

He loved Peter and still confronted him.

Biblical love is not spineless.

But neither is it cruel.

There is a difference between conviction and contempt.

There is a difference between correction and humiliation.

There is a difference between truth and using truth as a weapon because you enjoy hurting somebody.

Some people say, “I just tell it like it is.”

No.

Sometimes you are just mean.

Sometimes we hide behind honesty because we do not want to admit there is anger underneath it.

Sometimes we call bitterness discernment.

Sometimes we call cruelty boldness.

Sometimes we call pride conviction.

God knows the difference.

Paul understood how empty religion becomes without love.

He wrote:

“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.”

— 1 Corinthians 13:1

Then he goes further.

“And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.”

— 1 Corinthians 13:2

Nothing.

That is one of the hardest words in the passage.

You can have knowledge and be nothing.

You can have gifts and be nothing.

You can have faith that impresses people and still be nothing.

You can have a platform and be nothing.

You can have a title and be nothing.

You can have thousands of people listen to you and still be nothing.

Why?

Because the character of Christ cannot be separated from the love of Christ.

John says it even more directly.

“He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.”

— 1 John 4:8

That verse should bother us.

It should bother every pastor.

Every deacon.

Every teacher.

Every church member.

Every person who says they belong to Christ.

Because Scripture does not ask us whether we think we are loving.

It asks what our lives show.

Do you forgive?

Do you pray for people who hurt you?

Do you love your enemies?

If we do not love, we abide in death. Love is not an option; it is the evidence of life.