Jesus taught that the greatest commandment is to love God with your whole heart, soul and mind; the extension of that is to love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:35-40). The apostle John said that love for God is not present if we did not love our brothers and sisters. Love dwells in our lives as a whole piece; to divide love for God and neighbor is to distort and destroy it. To hold ourselves, our neighbor and our God in a circle of flowing love is the vision the Father has for all peoples of the earth. It is the mark of all who have been born of God (1 John 4:7).
“Those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.” 1 John 4:20b-21 (NRSV)
