“Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.” 1 John 4:10
Many Christians understand they are supposed to love others. Yet, there is sometimes a misunderstanding of what love actually is, and who the “others” are that we are told to love.
In Luke 10, a lawyer asked Jesus what to do to inherit eternal life. Jesus responded: “What is written in the law? How readest thou?” The lawyer responded accurately by saying: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.” (Luke 10:25-27)
The lawyer then tried to justify himself. He wanted to know exactly “WHO” he had to love. At that time the Jews and Samaritans were at odds with each other. They did not associate together, if at all possible. There was a good deal of prejudice against one another. You can imagine he may have been thinking things like: “How far does this neighborhood extend? It certainly could NOT be that Samaritan neighbor or someone from a neighboring town or country…” Jesus answered him with the famous parable of the good Samaritan. In the parable, when the Hebrew man was beaten and left for dead by thieves, no one would help him. Even the priest of his own town walked by without helping. It was only the Samaritan that cared enough to take the time and money to help. At the end of the story, Jesus asked the man, “…Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves?” The lawyer answered: “He that shewed mercy on him.” Then Jesus said: “Go and do thou likewise.” (see Luke 10:36-37)
Jesus wants us to not just love those we know, or like, but show love to everyone. In fact, He even commands us to love our enemies. In Mathew 5:43-44 Jesus tells us: “Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you, and persecute you: That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good; and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? Do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? Do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”
The good news is, God has given us the ability to love because once we make Jesus our Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit dwells in our hearts. We have the love of God shed abroad in our hearts to help us love with the God kind of love. (see Romans 5:5)
However, in order to love, we need to know what love looks like. To many, it is simply a warm fuzzy feeling. They might say they love football, or they love their school, or they love chocolate. Yet, God gives us the description of Love that shows us it is more than a feeling, it is an action.
1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (NKJV): “Love suffers long and is kind, love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails…”
The AMPC Translation says it this way: “Love endures long and is patient and kind; love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily. It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God’s love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong]. It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail. Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening]. Love never fails…”
During this month where we celebrate freedom, let us take time to meditate on the love scriptures. Confess 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 over yourself every day. For when we walk in love, we walk in true freedom and will never fail. There is no greater freedom than the freedom that the God kind of love provides!
Further reading: 1 Corinthians 13, Luke 10:25-37, 1 John, Mathew 5
