We love because he first loved us.  Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.

I John 4:19 – 21.

The love that John is talking about, agape, is not refined human love but God’s love.  If I read and understand it correctly, this love, divine love, is not “standard equipment” in any person in any age, but is a gift of God.  None of us, no matter who we are or the culture of our birth, comes by agape naturally.  We do not get it from our parents or from any other person.  It is a gift of God, a gift if we receive, puts us into touch with God and makes it possible to experience and exhibit this special gift from above.

When John reminds us that we must be born again, he is underlying that fact that this love is not inherited but is part and parcel of being born again, of being converted, of becoming a lover of God. And, whether we welcome the thought or not, is given only because Jesus atoned for our sins and has brought us to himself, so close that he can flood us with agape, divine love. No one has ever found another way of partaking of agape.  It is only through Christ because by his atoning acts he makes it possible.

This does not mean that those who are born naturally of believing parents simply “get it.”  It does not move like osmosis, otherwise John and the Gospel of Jesus Christ would have made it clear that some people have agape, others do not, regardless of whether they are born again or not.  No, no human being is born with this virtue.  It must come from above, from God himself.

The expression of agape is abundantly clear in person’s life. If it is there then a person loves God and men and women like himself.  The Spirit of God underlines it, “Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.” This powerful love has nothing to do with culture or race.  It is for all!  Amazing!