The starting point, the fountain for loving others is a love for God, initiated by His love for us and poured into our hearts by His Spirit. We cannot conclude that we love God, if we do not love those made in His image and, particularly here, those called God’s beloved, our fellow believers. 

We love Him because He first loved us (1 John 4:19, NKJV).

In our natural state we are dead in sin and in rebellion against our Creator. In quoting from the Psalms, Paul describes everyone dead in sin as not seeking God, not doing good, and not fearing God. In other words, we are not only alienated from God; we are antagonistic to Him. Paul goes so far as to say that in our fallen condition we are “haters of God” (Rom. 1:30). In his writings, John depicts it as a clash between light and darkness.

That might surprise us. Isn’t our land filled with religious expression and Christian denominations? Sure, there are those who militantly deny God or revile Him. But they are just a noisy fringe. How can churchgoers be God haters?

It has to do with our inclination to idolatry. We make God in our image, fashioning Him as we want Him to be. We bring Him to serve us, rather than the reverse. We become a law unto ourselves. As haters of God, we are easily disposed to hate others in our chauvinistic self-righteousness, self-service, and self-glory.

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