… LOVE
That sounds like a fairly innocuous topic. Right? Especially for a Christian. But let’s look at the Bible and see what it says about Love.
1. “God is love” 1 John 4:8 & 16
It is God’s very nature to love. He has expressed that love in Creation, when he made man in his own image (Genesis 1:27) and when he redeemed fallen man (Romans 5:8; John 3:16).
2. Man is to love
In Matthew 22:37-40 Jesus answered the Pharisaic lawyers’ question about the greatest commandment. It reads, “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
Where is that found in the Old Testament? It is found in Deuteronomy 6:5, “And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.” And Leviticus 19:18, “Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself: I am the LORD.” Both of these passages deal directly with the Mosaic Law which was God’s commands to His people.
Today those who have trusted Jesus Christ as their Saviour are God’s people. Yes there are some of those laws that do not apply to us today: keeping the Sabbath, eating or not eating different foods, circumcision, etc. Yet, Jesus said these two are definitely part of the life of a present day Christian. Love God and love your neighbor.
And then Jesus clearly answered the question: Who is my neighbor?
In Luke 10:25-37, a Jewish lawyer (maybe the same one as in Matthew 22) thinking to catch Jesus in some trick question asked about this greatest commandment and then asked “And who is my neighbor”? At this Jesus told the parable of the Good Samaritan and we now know that a neighbor is someone who shows compassion on someone else.
Loving our neighbor! Loving others! Showing compassion on others! Loving others as we love God! It is clear from Scripture that a Christian should be showing compassion on others who come into his life without partiality. The drug addict, the sexual deviant, the thief, the murderer, the liar, the wayward Christian, the unkind neighbor, the uncooperative coworker, the rebellious family member, the family member who continually upsets your life, that elected official who is going directly against the Word of God, etc. etc. etc.. None of us has any excuse for not doing this. And if we choose not to show love to others, we demonstrate that we are not fully following our Savior. And people notice.
As I write this I am thinking of 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 which lists some very vile sins and then says in verse 11, “And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.” Are you glad Jesus loved you through someone else and made you His child? I am!
Love is a choice. If you relegate it to a feeling it is not love at all, but rather lust. And lust is not always sexual, but it is always sensual. That is, it is about our lower human carnal desires rather than our higher God centered spiritual desires. Love is something you choose, and something you do.
In John 13:35, Jesus said, “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”
So let’s answer that question: What does the Bible say about Love?
- Love is a choice.
- Love is the fulfillment of the law (Romans 13:10).
- Love is an action, not just a statement (1 John 3:17 and surrounding verses)
- Love is the responsibility of every Christian to every person who comes into their life. There are no exceptions.
Christian let us show the love of God to every person that God sends into our life.
Your brother in Christ,
Pastor Rob Green
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