“If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and yet hates his brother or sister, he is a liar. For the person who does not love his brother or sister whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.” (v. 20)

Our religion tends to be vertical.

We comprehend at least a little bit of what it means to love God. We worship Him. We sing. We pray, with gratitude. We read His Word and remember Him.

There is a general upward trajectory for the Christian, a vertical religion.

But, as John implores us, don’t neglect the horizontal!

Love of God has to translate to love of neighbor. His love doesn’t just satisfy us—it sends us! If we are genuinely captivated by the love of God in Christ, then it overflows, to brothers and sisters and wanderers alike. And, if it doesn’t, we are left to wonder what kind of love we were claiming in the first place.

Because He loves us, we are welcomers. Because He loves us, we are givers. Because He loves us, we are unifiers. Because He loves us, we are helpers. Because He loves us, we are truth-tellers and hope-givers. Because He loves us, we love them.

Get the vertical right in right worship—and get the horizontal right in love.

— Tyler