1 John 2:10: Whoever Loves His Brother

1 John 2:10
[10] Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. (ESV)

We are living in very tense times.  Several days ago the Press Secretary for the President of the United States went to the Red Hen, a restaurant, with her family for dinner. Instead of being able to enjoy dinner with her family, the owner of the restaurant told her that she and her entire family were not welcome in the restaurant because she worked for the President. 

One reporter writes the following:

"The owner of the Red Hen restaurant in Lexington, Virginia missed a prime opportunity to live out the framed words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that are on display in the restaurant's window: "Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend."
- Lauren Green, www.foxnews.com

I raise this story for one reason.  It is one thing to say that you believe in the force of loving your enemy.  It is quite another thing to accomplish it.  The great Dr. Martin Luther King understood the truth of what the Apostle John was telling us.  The owner of the Red Hen, while posting a true statement did not live up to it.

If we love our brother, we abide in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling.  Loving our brother.  Not an easy task.  Our brother is not just the one that we agree with.  Enemy or friend, we are to love one another.  It is evidence that we belong to God.  Without a complete and total dependence on God for help we will not be able to love as Christ loved.

In what ways are you claiming to believe in loving your brother, but not living it out?  Take that situation to the Cross.  Ask the Lord Jesus to help you to love like he has called you to love.