The Ten Commandments are the rules God gave us as our guide to living in a society. Then, Jesus comes along and leaves his disciples with another commandment that He called “new.”“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” (John 13.34)
There are plenty of examples in scripture of Jesus’ love for those who where the social outcasts and great sinners of his day. As a result of their encounter with Him, many knew love for the first time. Yet the word love is probably one of the most misunderstood and misused words in the modern world. I remember a third year seminary project, part of which was to ask teenagers in the churches we were assigned to, this question: What is love? Many of them referred to love as a “feeling.” These kids were Christians but they never referred to any aspect of love from a biblical perspective. As for Jesus’ love, scriptures show that His reaction to sinners often times was to correct the problem and set them free. His love was an action.
The word love is used often in the Bible, particularly in the New Testament. But, let’s face it; love is difficult to accurately define. So, I decided to get technical and look it up in the dictionary. When love used as a noun in an abstract way such as, “baseball was Bob’s first love,” the word goes beyond the senses. When love is used as a verb it’s often describing a relationship to someone and something; “Ian must be madly in love with his wife, Robin, as they are constantly holding hands.”
As people moving through life quickly, we tend to limit the meaning of love to human emotions, but when we view love as an action, we are tested as to the truest definition of what it means to love. As Christians we are called to be more than a people who love; we are called to be a people who love and act. We are called to help with our hands, to forgive with our hearts, and to nurture all who are in need.
“Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers over all wrongs.” (Proverbs 10:12)
The apostle Paul brilliantly describes love in 1 Corinthians 13. He defines love as that which, "hopes all things, endures all things and never fails." (My paraphrase). Wait a minute, did he say, “love never fails?” Why would Paul describe love in that way? Let’s look at it this way. In our culture we define love as: affection, approval, attraction, and so on, but without Jesus they will all fail at some point. When Paul says that love never fails he is talking about divine love. The love of God never fails. Let’s face it, the love we have for one another fails to a greater or lesser degree, unless it is tied to Christ.
Jesus issued the commandment to love one another; the roots originating in the Old Testament with the commandment to, “love your neighbor as yourself.” (Leviticus 19:18). Jesus issued this commandment because love was a principal that He lived and died for. To love one another as Jesus loves us shows evidence of our new spiritual birth and continued growth. Remember just how pure Christ’s love is; he even prayed for the ones who murdered him as he hung there on the cross.
"We know that we have passed from death to life because we love our brothers.” (1 John 3:14)
Love is inseparably connected with all other aspects of the Christian life. Love is the light that shines through and separates the darkness. It is how we as Christians must be seen in this world. Love always comes before mercy and gives the faint hearted patience to finish the race. Love is the main spring that gives the believer courage and strength to follow God. Even when the sin is so wretched that we struggle to find anything to love, we may find that it is only through the love Christ has shown us in our own lives that can we find strength to love the sinner.
We must love God in response to His love for us, and we are to love each other as a result of our love for God. We love, because He first loved us. If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; “for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.” (1 John 4:19–21 )
Be found loving…
Bishop Ian
