October 27th, 2026
by Deon Hairston
by Deon Hairston
Radical Love: The Debt We Owe and the War We Are In
There is a war happening. Not the kind fought with tanks and artillery, but a spiritual one — and far too many people who claim to be on the right side of it are walking through the battlefield like tourists. They are humming along, unbothered, while the fight rages around them. The church was never meant to be passive. It was meant to be a force — aggressive in prayer, aggressive in standing against wrong, and aggressive in the one weapon that confounds the enemy more than any other: love.
Not soft love. Not polite love. Radical love.
You Owe a Debt You Cannot Pay Back
The Apostle John, writing in 1 John 4:11-12, makes a statement that most people glide right past. He says that because Yahuwah loved us, we "ought" to love one another. That word "ought" sounds gentle in English — like a suggestion, a good idea, something to consider. But the Greek word behind it is a financial term. It means to owe. It means a debt you are bound to pay.
Think about that for a moment. The love that was extended to us was not earned. It was not deserved. It was paid in full before we ever got in line. And because of that, we cannot pay it back to the one who gave it. So what do we do? We pay it forward. We turn around and give it to the person standing behind us — the person in front of us — the people we live with, work with, sit next to, and sometimes struggle to tolerate.
That is not a suggestion. That is a debt.
The Sign That He Stays
John goes on to say something remarkable in verse 12. No one has ever seen Yahuah with their own eyes. And yet, when we love one another, he dwells in us. He stays.
That word "stays" is not accidental. Years before John wrote his letter, Yahusha sat at a table with his closest friends on the night before his death, and he made a promise recorded in John 14:16-17 — that the Spirit of truth would be given to them, and that this Spirit would not visit, not pass through, but stay. Forever.
John, now an old man writing to the church, is saying: it happened. He stayed. And here is how you can tell. By the love.
The world cannot see Yahuwah. But the world can see us. That means the only way most people will ever encounter the character of the Creator is through the way his people treat each other. The love between believers is not just a nice community value. It is a testimony. It is a sign. It is a jersey that tells the watching world whose team you are on.
The Hardest Sentence in the Passage
First John 4:20 does not soften the blow. If someone says they love Yahuah and hates their brother, John calls them a liar. Not confused. Not immature. A liar.
And before anyone breathes a sigh of relief thinking they have never truly hated anyone, it is worth understanding how the Bible uses that word. In Genesis 29:30-31, Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah. He did not abuse Leah. He did not curse her. He simply loved someone else more and left her on the outside. And scripture calls that hate.
Hate is not always rage. Sometimes hate is walking past someone. Sometimes it is closing your gut against the pull of compassion when you see someone in need. First John 3:17-18 asks plainly: if you have what someone else needs and you shut your feelings down and keep moving, how does the love of Yahuwah live in you?
The test of love is not how we feel in a worship service with music filling the room. The test is the coworker who takes credit for your work. The family member who still owes you money. The person two rows over who said something about you three years ago. The one who leaves dishes in the sink. Those are the real tests. And John says if you cannot love the one you can see, do not claim to love the one you cannot see.
The Story That Flipped the Question
When a religious scholar asked Yahushua who his neighbor was, he was really asking for a boundary. Tell me who I have to love so I know who I can skip. Yahusha answered with a story found in Luke 10:25-37 that is still uncomfortable two thousand years later.
A man was beaten, robbed, and left on the road. A priest walked by. A Levite walked by. Both were religious men, men with titles, men who knew the scriptures. Both crossed to the other side.
The one who stopped was a Samaritan — a person from a group that the Hebrew people of that day despised. He stopped. He bandaged the wounds. He paid for the man's care. He came back to check on him.
Yahusha did not answer the scholar's original question. He asked a better one: which of these three acted like a neighbor? The answer was obvious. And then came five words that still stand as a challenge today: go and do likewise.
What This Means for the Week Ahead
The people in our lives who love well but do not know Yahuah are not accidents. Every human being carries the image of the Creator. When you see genuine kindness in someone who has never set foot in a church, you are seeing a gift from above — what theologians call common grace. It is real. It is good. And it is a door. Keep praying for those people. Keep loving them. Yahuah is already at work.
But for those of us who carry the Spirit, who have been loved first, who have been given the command — the Samaritan is a mirror. If someone with no knowledge of the covenant could stop on the road and pour out compassion, what is the excuse for walking by?
This week, on purpose, love someone outside of your comfort zone. Pay the debt forward. Let the sign show.
There is a war happening. Not the kind fought with tanks and artillery, but a spiritual one — and far too many people who claim to be on the right side of it are walking through the battlefield like tourists. They are humming along, unbothered, while the fight rages around them. The church was never meant to be passive. It was meant to be a force — aggressive in prayer, aggressive in standing against wrong, and aggressive in the one weapon that confounds the enemy more than any other: love.
Not soft love. Not polite love. Radical love.
You Owe a Debt You Cannot Pay Back
The Apostle John, writing in 1 John 4:11-12, makes a statement that most people glide right past. He says that because Yahuwah loved us, we "ought" to love one another. That word "ought" sounds gentle in English — like a suggestion, a good idea, something to consider. But the Greek word behind it is a financial term. It means to owe. It means a debt you are bound to pay.
Think about that for a moment. The love that was extended to us was not earned. It was not deserved. It was paid in full before we ever got in line. And because of that, we cannot pay it back to the one who gave it. So what do we do? We pay it forward. We turn around and give it to the person standing behind us — the person in front of us — the people we live with, work with, sit next to, and sometimes struggle to tolerate.
That is not a suggestion. That is a debt.
The Sign That He Stays
John goes on to say something remarkable in verse 12. No one has ever seen Yahuah with their own eyes. And yet, when we love one another, he dwells in us. He stays.
That word "stays" is not accidental. Years before John wrote his letter, Yahusha sat at a table with his closest friends on the night before his death, and he made a promise recorded in John 14:16-17 — that the Spirit of truth would be given to them, and that this Spirit would not visit, not pass through, but stay. Forever.
John, now an old man writing to the church, is saying: it happened. He stayed. And here is how you can tell. By the love.
The world cannot see Yahuwah. But the world can see us. That means the only way most people will ever encounter the character of the Creator is through the way his people treat each other. The love between believers is not just a nice community value. It is a testimony. It is a sign. It is a jersey that tells the watching world whose team you are on.
The Hardest Sentence in the Passage
First John 4:20 does not soften the blow. If someone says they love Yahuah and hates their brother, John calls them a liar. Not confused. Not immature. A liar.
And before anyone breathes a sigh of relief thinking they have never truly hated anyone, it is worth understanding how the Bible uses that word. In Genesis 29:30-31, Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah. He did not abuse Leah. He did not curse her. He simply loved someone else more and left her on the outside. And scripture calls that hate.
Hate is not always rage. Sometimes hate is walking past someone. Sometimes it is closing your gut against the pull of compassion when you see someone in need. First John 3:17-18 asks plainly: if you have what someone else needs and you shut your feelings down and keep moving, how does the love of Yahuwah live in you?
The test of love is not how we feel in a worship service with music filling the room. The test is the coworker who takes credit for your work. The family member who still owes you money. The person two rows over who said something about you three years ago. The one who leaves dishes in the sink. Those are the real tests. And John says if you cannot love the one you can see, do not claim to love the one you cannot see.
The Story That Flipped the Question
When a religious scholar asked Yahushua who his neighbor was, he was really asking for a boundary. Tell me who I have to love so I know who I can skip. Yahusha answered with a story found in Luke 10:25-37 that is still uncomfortable two thousand years later.
A man was beaten, robbed, and left on the road. A priest walked by. A Levite walked by. Both were religious men, men with titles, men who knew the scriptures. Both crossed to the other side.
The one who stopped was a Samaritan — a person from a group that the Hebrew people of that day despised. He stopped. He bandaged the wounds. He paid for the man's care. He came back to check on him.
Yahusha did not answer the scholar's original question. He asked a better one: which of these three acted like a neighbor? The answer was obvious. And then came five words that still stand as a challenge today: go and do likewise.
What This Means for the Week Ahead
The people in our lives who love well but do not know Yahuah are not accidents. Every human being carries the image of the Creator. When you see genuine kindness in someone who has never set foot in a church, you are seeing a gift from above — what theologians call common grace. It is real. It is good. And it is a door. Keep praying for those people. Keep loving them. Yahuah is already at work.
But for those of us who carry the Spirit, who have been loved first, who have been given the command — the Samaritan is a mirror. If someone with no knowledge of the covenant could stop on the road and pour out compassion, what is the excuse for walking by?
This week, on purpose, love someone outside of your comfort zone. Pay the debt forward. Let the sign show.
Deon Hairston
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