Whoever loves God must also love his brother and sister

Whoever loves God must also love his brother and sister.  That's not from me.  It's from the Bible.  Certainly, non-Christians might feel no obligation to obey it.  But if we're Christian, it's not a suggestion.  It's not just a "nice" thing to think about.  It's a command!  And there aren't any exceptions to go with it.  In case you're wondering, or even if you're not, that includes our "brothers and sisters" from another country.  Again, Jesus gives no exceptions.

Some of you are undoubtedly trying to remember when Jesus ever said this applies to brothers and sisters from another country.

And, if you've got a digital Bible and you search for brothers and sisters from another country, you won't find it.

But that doesn't mean it isn't there.

It comes down to the letter of what Jesus said versus the spirit of what Jesus said. If you're a regular here, you might have read Follow the money – Judas and the thirty pieces of silver. One of the things in there was the letter of God's law versus the spirit of God's law. And the lesson? Don't be a Pharisee. The same lesson applies here. We'll see why the spirit of what Jesus said means exactly what the title says: Whoever loves God must also love his brother and sister.

Whoever loves God must also love his brother and sister

My title comes from the passage below:

God’s Love and Ours

1Jn 4:7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

1Jn 4:13 We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. 16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.  God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. 17 In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.