Love - The Reason

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. (1 John 4:7-8 NIV)

Love originates with God because God is love.  God created us in a way that we only find fulfillment in love for God and for other people.  When we walk together with God, we are people of love.

"Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. (Matthew 10:21-22 NIV)

Even though this is our design, that is not what we see in the world around us.  People live in ways that clearly show they do not love God.  At the same time, they clearly do not love other people who are made in the image of God.  This is why sent His Son, Jesus, to us.  He modeled a life of love, even to the point of laying down his life for us.  When we are Christ-followers, then, people see a difference in us.  We are not the same as the rest of the world.  We are his disciples.

By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." (John 13:35 NIV)

Loving, though, is not just about being saved by God from our own wretchedness.  It's not just about showing the world that we are Christians, either.  These are good reasons to love - reasons that affect our lives and even our eternity.  Our real reason for loving, though, is not about us.  It's about other people.

"But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. (Luke 6:27-28 NIV)

Why would God ask us to love even our enemies and those who persecute us?  It's simple.  They are made in the image of God, too.  They have sinned and fallen short of God's glory, too.  They are sinners who need a savior, too.  God loves them and wants to extend grace to them, too.  But they won't know about all this unless someone tells them.  You can't really share this good news with someone if you hate them.  Love is all about God's mission for our lives.

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations... (Matthew 28:19a NIV)

So, how about you?  Do you love God enough that it shows?  Do you stand firm in that love?  Can people tell you are a Christian by your love?  Do you love your enemies enough to pray for them?  Do you let love drive you to go and make disciples of all nations?  Do you see the reason for love?

Love - Everyone

I'll never forget the AHA moment I had when I first figured this out.  You see, I was learning to read and understand Scripture for the first time and I was also learning how to read passages of Scripture in context.  This helped me learn how to read without making Scripture say what I wanted it to say.  Instead, I learned to let Scripture say what it actually says.

"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. (John 13:34 NIV)

In this passage, for example, I would read the sentences before the verse and the sentences after it.  When I did this, I learned that Jesus was talking to his disciples before going to his death on the cross.  The command, then, that Jesus is giving here is to his disciples.  They aren't being commanded to love people who are not disciples.  This command is just among Christ-followers.  Other passages throughout the New Testament seem to support this focus.

On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" "What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?" He answered, "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" "You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live." (Luke 10:25-28 NIV)

In this passage, though, Jesus affirms the Old Testament law that teaches us to love our neighbor as ourselves.  The group of people we are called to love just got bigger.  It goes outside of our close-knit family group of Christ-following believers.  It includes our "neighbors" as well.  When the expert in the law pushed the question further, Jesus taught the parable of the Good Samaritan - letting us know that we should treat every neighbor with love.

"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:43-45a NIV)

This final passage, however, was what cinched the AHA experience for me.  Even people who consider themselves my enemy are not excluded.  I am called to love them, too.  On that day I finally got it.  All people are made in the image of God.  All people are precious to God.  All people are loved by God.  I should love them, too.

How about you?  Do you love your Christian brothers and sisters?  Do you love your neighbors?  Do you love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you?  Do you love everyone who is made in the image of God?

Love - A Sacrifice

The love that we find in Scripture is not only a command and a choice. Often times, it requires sacrifice.

"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matthew 5:43-48 NIV)

It's one thing to love your spouse and children. It's another thing to love your next door neighbor or best friend at work. It is a completely different thing to love the person that you know hates you. It requires restraint. It requires self control. It requires God powerfully at work in your mind, heart, and body. Loving your enemies and praying for your persecutors takes sacrifice. We cannot give people what they deserve. Instead, we respond to their evil with good. When we do, we show ourselves as Christ-followers and true children of God.

"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. (John 15:9-14 NIV)

How about you? Do you lay down your life for your friends? Do you love those who love you? Do you even love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you? Do you love even when it takes sacrifice?

Love - A Choice

Once again, love as described in the New Testament is not the romantic love we have fed to us in the media today.  This is why love can be described to us as a command.

On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" "What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?" He answered, "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" "You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live." (Luke 10:25-28 NIV)

The expert of the law should have stopped right there.  He and Jesus were "in sync" with one another - or at least it seemed that way on the surface.  The problem, though, was that the expert of the law has a person or group of people he really didn't want to love.  I can't blame him.  You and I, if we really think about it, probably have people in our lives or people in this world in general that we really don't want to love.  So, the expert asked Jesus another question.

But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" (Luke 10:29 NIV)

What he was really asking was this: "Can you put the unlovable people in my life into a category so that I can feel better about not loving them?"  Jesus, of course, wouldn't have any part of it.  Instead, he told the expert a parable.

In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.' "Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?" The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him." Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise." (Luke 10:30-37 NIV)

How about you?  Do you love your neighbor as yourself?  Do you love the people in your life that you really don't want to love?  Do you make the choice to love?

Love - A Command

All too often, we think of love as a feeling or emotion. This is because we equate love with romantic love. We think about falling in love and even say, "You can't help who you fall in love with." This becomes confusing, then, when we read in Scripture that love is a command. That's because the love described in these commands is not romantic at all. It is a different kind of love.

"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." (Matthew 22:36-40 NIV)

I know the Bible is a big book. In fact, it is a book filled with books. The original languages included Greek and Hebrew and the book is filled with many chapters and verses. The thought of reading the Bible cover to cover can be challenging even to the most faithful follower. I've talked with many people who try to read the Bible from the beginning and then crash right around the third book: Leviticus. That's because Leviticus is filled with a bunch of the Old Testament law.

This becomes so important in understanding Jesus' discussion about the Great Commandment (as we call it). He told us that all the law hangs on these two commands. He even said all the prophets hang on these two commands as well, including Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and all the rest. That's a lot of the Old Testament. Jesus said we can live out the law and the prophets by loving God first: when we awake, when we go to sleep, and all of the time in between.

We also fulfill the law and the prophets when we love other people as much as ourselves. I know that I love myself enough to breathe on a regular basis so I have enough oxygen in my system. I know that I love myself to eat every day, sleep every night, and work to have food, clothing, and shelter for myself. I even take care of myself when I am getting sick, so I will get better. The question is, do I care about such things for my neighbor. It starts with my wife and children. That is easy. I feel the responsibility for them. But what about my next door neighbor? What about my coworkers? What about the homeless men and women I pass on the street? Do I really love my neighbor as myself? Yes, the love Jesus talks about here is quite different from romantic love.

"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." (John 13:34-35 NIV)

So how about you? Do you love God with your whole heart, mind, soul, and strength? Do you really love your neighbor as yourself? Do you live out love as a command? If so, you are living out the law and the prophets.