Christian Love: Jesus commanded us to love one another just as He loved us (John 13:34; 15:12). It is critical that we properly see Jesus’ love as a holy love, for Jesus loved His people to do them eternal good and to sanctify them (Eph. 5:25-26). The world seeks a “love” that affirms self-obsession and celebrates lawlessness. But sin is a toxin. It is no love to cheer as someone takes a swig of poison. Godly love instead sounds the alarm and turns a stray from the error of his way (Eph. 5:11-13; James 5:20) and restores him to God (2 Cor. 5:20; Gal. 6:1). Holy love never confuses righteousness with sin nor does it conflate truth with error (1 Cor. 13:6). Christian love is a holy love. Moreover, it is a sincere love (3:17-18; 1 Pet. 1:22). It seeks the good of others (Rom. 15:2; 1 Cor. 10:24; 13:5) in the likeness to Christ (Phil. 2:4-5).

No Hatred: There is no room for hatred in the church of God. Unforgiveness, bitterness, malice, mockery, slander, gossip, and judgmentalism have no place among disciples of Christ. If love is to reign here, then anything that smacks of hate must be denied and resisted. We are to love even our enemies and our persecutors (Matt. 5:44; Luke 6:27); how much more a fellow believer? Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, keep close communion with Him, and learn from Him. For He sought forgiveness for His crucifiers (Luke 23:34) and Paradise for him who insulted Him (Matt. 27:44; Luke 23:43). Surely, we cannot justify disdain for anyone because he has mistreated, disrespected, or rubbed us the wrong way. Hatred cannot be in our hearts, for that puts us in the black darkness of sin. We fellowship with the holy God of love. Bitterness and wrath belong to our past (Eph. 4:31; Col. 3:8; Heb. 12:15). We put on Christian love (Col. 3:14).