It’s quite a daunting task to even consider writing about love as one who demonstrates time and again that he all too often falls short of loving God and loving others. I trust, though, that I am in good company with everyone who is reading this. With that being said, God has put it on my heart to write about the most excellent way and our preeminent pursuit of love, which is only possible through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
I’d like to start with what is probably the most recognized verse in Scripture:
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
It would be easy to go off on a tangent and never return when thinking of how deeply God loves us evidenced by gazing at the Cross. Jesus (aka God) willingly surrendered some of His divine attributes to take on the form of a human and become the payment for our sins. Do you ever stop and really consider the immensity of this verse? There is a reason that it has become so mainstream and that is because it delivers the Gospel message in one sentence. God loves us so much that He sent Jesus, in whom all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell (Colossians 1:19), to save us from our self-inflicted destruction. And not only to save us, but to offer us eternal life in the presence of God free of pain and suffering as God’s adopted sons and daughters. Even as we were strangers with no hope and without God who couldn’t possibly know that what all of us really desire above all else is God, God loved us and provided the only possible way of redemption: One who would take our judgement upon Himself.
There has never and will never be a more beautiful display of love than the life of Jesus Christ.
In his first letter, John tells us that “we love because He first loved us.” (1 John 4:19) It’s quite humbling to know that apart from the love of God, we would not even know what love is nor be able to experience it or express it to another. For me, this adds a new dimension to love that I never even considered in years past.
Now that we’ve looked at the decisive proof that God loves us more than we can comprehend or imagine, we need to examine our response and responsibility.
Our first responsibility in view of God’s love is to grow in our understanding of His love for us. If we don’t have a clear understanding of God’s love, loving others won’t be easy and will inevitably become misguided by our flesh.
In Ephesians chapter 3, Paul explains that Christians are rooted and grounded in love (verse 17) and he prays that the body of Christ would increase in knowing the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge (verse 19). I think of a tree’s roots. How can a 50 foot tall tree stand solid without a huge root system underground? In the same way, our roots in love must grow so we represent Christ well and love others like Christ loves us. And to think, the love of Jesus surpasses knowledge. Paul says a very similar thing in Philippians 1:9: And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment. Growing in our understanding of God’s love is a life-long pursuit. Praise be to God that it never gets old or redundant! In fact, it continues to get more exciting for me to know the love my Savior has for me.
So how do we access this love?
Paul charges us with this as he speaks of putting on the things of God as His chosen people:
And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
Colossians 3:14
Again Paul says:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness...
Galatians 5:22
How do we put on love? Paul says that it is a fruit of the Spirit, and, by the way, I don’t think it is at all a coincidence that it is the first fruit Paul mentions. The answer can be found in Galatians 5:27: If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.
Putting on love is as simple as understanding that it is the power of the Holy Spirit that allows us to experience and express love. Since we know that the Spirit gives life (John 6:63), we must respond to the life-giving Spirit by walking according to His leading. This is why daily time in the Word of God is so important for us. It is through our time in the Word that we learn to discern the Spirit’s leading and are able to grow in love!
So as we continue to discern how much God loves us and learn to put on that love, we will naturally conclude that our greatest priority as Christians is to share that love with others. (As God is showing me, that means even those who are difficult to love!)
Just so no one gets the wrong idea that only Paul speaks of love, let us take a look at two similar perspectives on loving others from two very different men.
Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God.
1 Peter 1:22,23
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.
1 John 4:7
Peter exhorts his readers to love one another with complete commitment and total focus. He explains that we are able to do this because our souls have been cleansed by becoming obedient to the truth of the Word of God. He charges us to love because we have been born again of imperishable seed. It is both because of the word of God that we are given the charge to love and by its power that we are able to love.
John records a similar idea. Those that love with pure hearts and sincere intentions are of God. Love itself is from God. So if we know God, it will be evident in our love for others. I find it fascinating that God took John, a man ready to call fire down from Heaven to consume a Samaritan town who did not welcome Jesus, and gave him such a fantastic perspective on love. Isn’t it amazing what God can do to a man’s heart?
Well, I think there is only one place left to look in this examination on love. Let’s take a look at what the Master Himself has to say.
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.
John 14:34,35
Reading that makes it clear to me that both John and Peter were good listeners. Jesus commands us to love each other. This isn’t a request or a suggestion. It is a command from God Himself that we love each other. Loving others is the very way that the world knows that we are disciples of Jesus Christ.
Unfortunately, so many Christians and churches have missed this whole idea. Today, it is far easier to hear the world label people as Christians for not drinking, having sex, or cursing than how Christ intended it to be. We don’t love like we should. We aren’t passionate about Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, like we should be. We don’t love God like we should and we certainly don’t love others like we should either. I wonder what it would look like if more churches began loving the community in which they minister, Christians began loving each other, and Christians began loving the broken people of this world through generosity and personal sacrifice. There are definitely churches and Christians out there that are living like this and guess what? The Gospel is attractive when it is lovingly displayed by the Body of Christ! People desire to experience the joy of knowing that they are loved by an awesome God! I know I am convicted by the thought of loving others like Christ loves me. I pray that you are too.
So as I reflect on love, I am reminded of Jesus’s words when asked what the greatest commandment is. Love God; love your neighbor. The entirety of the Law can be followed by these two commands. (Matthew 22:37-40) I also am reminded of Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 13. We can speak the wisdom of men and angels and only be noisy gongs and clanging cymbals if we fail to speak and act in love. We can be blessed with the ability to interpret Scripture and teach its truths to others or even the faith to cast a mountain into the ocean but still be nothing if we lack love. We can even sacrifice ourselves as offerings and gain nothing if done apart from love. Nothing matters more than loving God and loving others. It is scary to think that the pursuit of utmost importance could be forgotten, but I believe in some ways that it has been. We have to love God and love others. The Gospel itself is rooted and grounded in love. It is a message of love from the One who is love.
God, may we be patient and kind, free of envy and boasting, humble, polite, sincere; rejoicing in truth, hope, and endurance. May we know that we possess three incredible gifts of God: faith, hope, and love. And may we know that the greatest of all is love.
My prayer for all of you and myself is this:
May the Lord direct [our] hearts to the love of God and the steadfastness of Christ.
2 Thessalonians 3:5
I’d like to start with what is probably the most recognized verse in Scripture:
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
It would be easy to go off on a tangent and never return when thinking of how deeply God loves us evidenced by gazing at the Cross. Jesus (aka God) willingly surrendered some of His divine attributes to take on the form of a human and become the payment for our sins. Do you ever stop and really consider the immensity of this verse? There is a reason that it has become so mainstream and that is because it delivers the Gospel message in one sentence. God loves us so much that He sent Jesus, in whom all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell (Colossians 1:19), to save us from our self-inflicted destruction. And not only to save us, but to offer us eternal life in the presence of God free of pain and suffering as God’s adopted sons and daughters. Even as we were strangers with no hope and without God who couldn’t possibly know that what all of us really desire above all else is God, God loved us and provided the only possible way of redemption: One who would take our judgement upon Himself.
There has never and will never be a more beautiful display of love than the life of Jesus Christ.
In his first letter, John tells us that “we love because He first loved us.” (1 John 4:19) It’s quite humbling to know that apart from the love of God, we would not even know what love is nor be able to experience it or express it to another. For me, this adds a new dimension to love that I never even considered in years past.
Now that we’ve looked at the decisive proof that God loves us more than we can comprehend or imagine, we need to examine our response and responsibility.
Our first responsibility in view of God’s love is to grow in our understanding of His love for us. If we don’t have a clear understanding of God’s love, loving others won’t be easy and will inevitably become misguided by our flesh.
In Ephesians chapter 3, Paul explains that Christians are rooted and grounded in love (verse 17) and he prays that the body of Christ would increase in knowing the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge (verse 19). I think of a tree’s roots. How can a 50 foot tall tree stand solid without a huge root system underground? In the same way, our roots in love must grow so we represent Christ well and love others like Christ loves us. And to think, the love of Jesus surpasses knowledge. Paul says a very similar thing in Philippians 1:9: And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment. Growing in our understanding of God’s love is a life-long pursuit. Praise be to God that it never gets old or redundant! In fact, it continues to get more exciting for me to know the love my Savior has for me.
So how do we access this love?
Paul charges us with this as he speaks of putting on the things of God as His chosen people:
And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
Colossians 3:14
Again Paul says:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness...
Galatians 5:22
How do we put on love? Paul says that it is a fruit of the Spirit, and, by the way, I don’t think it is at all a coincidence that it is the first fruit Paul mentions. The answer can be found in Galatians 5:27: If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.
Putting on love is as simple as understanding that it is the power of the Holy Spirit that allows us to experience and express love. Since we know that the Spirit gives life (John 6:63), we must respond to the life-giving Spirit by walking according to His leading. This is why daily time in the Word of God is so important for us. It is through our time in the Word that we learn to discern the Spirit’s leading and are able to grow in love!
So as we continue to discern how much God loves us and learn to put on that love, we will naturally conclude that our greatest priority as Christians is to share that love with others. (As God is showing me, that means even those who are difficult to love!)
Just so no one gets the wrong idea that only Paul speaks of love, let us take a look at two similar perspectives on loving others from two very different men.
Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God.
1 Peter 1:22,23
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.
1 John 4:7
Peter exhorts his readers to love one another with complete commitment and total focus. He explains that we are able to do this because our souls have been cleansed by becoming obedient to the truth of the Word of God. He charges us to love because we have been born again of imperishable seed. It is both because of the word of God that we are given the charge to love and by its power that we are able to love.
John records a similar idea. Those that love with pure hearts and sincere intentions are of God. Love itself is from God. So if we know God, it will be evident in our love for others. I find it fascinating that God took John, a man ready to call fire down from Heaven to consume a Samaritan town who did not welcome Jesus, and gave him such a fantastic perspective on love. Isn’t it amazing what God can do to a man’s heart?
Well, I think there is only one place left to look in this examination on love. Let’s take a look at what the Master Himself has to say.
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.
John 14:34,35
Reading that makes it clear to me that both John and Peter were good listeners. Jesus commands us to love each other. This isn’t a request or a suggestion. It is a command from God Himself that we love each other. Loving others is the very way that the world knows that we are disciples of Jesus Christ.
Unfortunately, so many Christians and churches have missed this whole idea. Today, it is far easier to hear the world label people as Christians for not drinking, having sex, or cursing than how Christ intended it to be. We don’t love like we should. We aren’t passionate about Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, like we should be. We don’t love God like we should and we certainly don’t love others like we should either. I wonder what it would look like if more churches began loving the community in which they minister, Christians began loving each other, and Christians began loving the broken people of this world through generosity and personal sacrifice. There are definitely churches and Christians out there that are living like this and guess what? The Gospel is attractive when it is lovingly displayed by the Body of Christ! People desire to experience the joy of knowing that they are loved by an awesome God! I know I am convicted by the thought of loving others like Christ loves me. I pray that you are too.
So as I reflect on love, I am reminded of Jesus’s words when asked what the greatest commandment is. Love God; love your neighbor. The entirety of the Law can be followed by these two commands. (Matthew 22:37-40) I also am reminded of Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 13. We can speak the wisdom of men and angels and only be noisy gongs and clanging cymbals if we fail to speak and act in love. We can be blessed with the ability to interpret Scripture and teach its truths to others or even the faith to cast a mountain into the ocean but still be nothing if we lack love. We can even sacrifice ourselves as offerings and gain nothing if done apart from love. Nothing matters more than loving God and loving others. It is scary to think that the pursuit of utmost importance could be forgotten, but I believe in some ways that it has been. We have to love God and love others. The Gospel itself is rooted and grounded in love. It is a message of love from the One who is love.
God, may we be patient and kind, free of envy and boasting, humble, polite, sincere; rejoicing in truth, hope, and endurance. May we know that we possess three incredible gifts of God: faith, hope, and love. And may we know that the greatest of all is love.
My prayer for all of you and myself is this:
May the Lord direct [our] hearts to the love of God and the steadfastness of Christ.
2 Thessalonians 3:5
Amen, may we be passionately desireous of the fruit of the Spirit. I know that when I am driven for something I dont let things get in my way. This should be true about my time in God's Word and my focus in life. Thanks for the time and effort put in to communicating about the love of God.
ReplyDeleteTake hope I have seen with my own eyes how God has been growing within you a love, one that you did not have a year ago. May this love of Christ which will overflow from your life, as the Holy Spirit produces it within you, be an ever present testimony to the people around you of our great God and His incredible life changing work.