“If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.”
1 John 4:20 NASB
“If someone says, ‘I love God,’ but hates a fellow believer, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see?”
1 John 4:20 NLT
I’ve always thought this verse a bit odd. I am probably most familiar with the translation that puts the statement in the form of a question. At first blush, I tend to think that of course it’s easier to love God! It seems an odd juxtaposition: imperfect, difficult people on one side, perfection on the other–wouldn’t it be “easier” to love perfection? I appreciated the view that the following statement provides on the issue: “It is easy to have a kind of love for God which does not recognize the obligation to love one another. Such love for God falls short of being real love for him, since it fails to obey his commandments.”[312]
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”
John 14:15