Love Is Not an Option It's a Command

Grace and Peace, My Ekklesia Family

Love Is Not an Option—It’s the Command

“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?”

—1 John 4:20 (NLT)

Hatred disguised as an opinion is still hatred. Racism, misogyny, casteism, homophobia, transphobia, and xenophobia are not differences in taste or perspective. They are barriers erected by the enemy to divide, to diminish God’s image in others, and to deny His command to love.

Paul reminds us in Galatians 3:28 that in Christ, “There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Love in the Kingdom is not selective—it is comprehensive. Where hatred draws lines, Christ erases them with His blood.

As the Church, we must refuse to baptize prejudice as “preference” or “opinion.” Love is not optional; it is the law of Christ (Galatians 6:2). Hatred in any form denies the very character of God, who is love.

Examine your heart honestly: Are there hidden prejudices you’ve excused as “just how I was raised” or “my opinion”?

Speak up when hatred is disguised as humor, opinion, or tradition. Silence can be agreement.

Live out radical love daily—at work, in your family, online, and in your community.

Lord, search my heart. Uproot every hidden prejudice and every seed of hatred. Fill me with Your Spirit so that I may see every person as Your child, created in Your image. Teach me to love beyond comfort, beyond boundaries, beyond labels. Let my life testify that I belong to Jesus, because I walk in love. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

If you’ve never surrendered your life to Christ, let today be the day. He alone can transform hatred into love and division into unity. Come to Jesus, and let His love make you new.

LoveUmorethanUknow,

Stephän Kirby, Pastor, Ekklesia