The great theologian Tina Turner once famously sang, “What’s love got to do with it?”

I’m pretty sure she didn’t ask the question in quite the same context as John’s words in chapter 2, but it’s a valid question, even when you’re not wearing a sparkly dress.

Apparently, love has everything to do with being a believer—it’s one of the signs of assurance for the Christian. 

I’ve heard pastors jokingly say, “I love ministry; I just don’t love the people.” I knew a guy who would lament his inability to experience significant community in the church while simultaneously quipping, “James, I just don’t like people.”  

That’s not funny. That’s a problem.  

Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness.

Our love for one another is a sign we belong to God. Let me be clear. Our love for people doesn’t earn love from God. God loves us. We love others. The order is important. 

But one of the signs we are God’s people is when we love people. God says it’s pretty hard to praise him with our lips and then snub people made in his image (James 3:9-11). Maybe it’s like someone saying they like me but can’t stand my kids or my wife. Them’s fightin’ words.

Do you love people? Do you see people as God’s finest creation? Do you want what is best for others? Do you care about the souls of the people you rub shoulders with on a daily basis? If the answer to any of these is “nope” –it’s at least worth a conversation with their Maker. 

Love is more than a catchy song lyric, a second-hand emotion, manufactured by sentimentality. It is a posture of the heart, an overflow of the love God showers on us. It is an intentional choice we make, not because we are forced to love, but because we love God.

Loving others is a sign you belong to God.