If someone says,“ I love God,” but hates a fellow believer, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see?
So don’t be surprised, dear brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.If we love our brothers and sisters who are believers, it proves that we have passed from death to life. But a person who has no love is still dead.Anyone who hates another brother or sister is really a murderer at heart. And you know that murderers don’t have eternal life within them.We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters.If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion— how can God’s love be in that person?
If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing.If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.
You know what he wants; you know what is right because you have been taught his law.You are convinced that you are a guide for the blind and a light for people who are lost in darkness.You think you can instruct the ignorant and teach children the ways of God. For you are certain that God’s law gives you complete knowledge and truth.Well then, if you teach others, why don’t you teach yourself? You tell others not to steal, but do you steal?