Can't See Beyond the Nose on Your Face Christian

We love Him, because He first loved us. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from Him, That he who loveth God love his brother also. 1 John:19-21

Well, for years I used to take this passage very literally. I have to admit there are times when I was not always the best example of being a loving sibling, especially when they made life style choices that I thought were counterproductive. I had to be prayerful about my attitude and being judgmental of my siblings and their choices. I had to be prayerful about having a forgiving and open heart to them regardless of their actions. I can't tell you that I'm where I need to be, but Christ has made a miraculous change in my attitude and in my interactions.

I was a Can't See Beyond the Nose on Your Face Christian. I was only looking at my interactions related to my siblings. Once Christ drew my attention to my narrow focus, I realized that I needed to look beyond my siblings. Do I love those who snubbed me when I was heavy? Do I love those in the world who make poor life style choices? Do I love those in the world who sell drugs to others? Do I love those who don't love Christ and persecute those who do? Do I love those who traffic people? Do I love those who are against my country? Do I love those who have a different skin color? Do I love those who oppress others? Do I love those who........?

I won't lie to you, but am prayerful that Christ leads me in this goal to being a better example of the Christian He wants me to be. We love Him, because He first loved us. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from Him, That he who loveth God love his brother also. 1 John:19-21


Since this is an example of the positive influence God has made on my walk with Christ, this may not reflect the whole meaning of the Bible verses.