Let all that you do be done in Love (1 Corinthians 16:14)

Love seems to be the common thread that runs through the Bible. The Bible tells us that God is Love. And it is through love that God saved us. And when we are saved, we are called to love others as we love ourselves.

The Ultimate Example of Love

In the beginning, man fell out of relationship with God and was on a path to eternal destruction. But God saved and reunited us with Him. The ultimate example of love is God’s sacrifice of His Son to save all of mankind from eternal destruction. He loves us so much that He gave His only Son to die for us. He made us His own even though we rebelled against Him. Ephesians tells us that God is rich in mercy because of the great love He has for us (Ephesians 2:4) (1 John 3:1). The Bible says that nothing can separate us from the love of God, not tribulation, famine, danger or sword (Romans 8:35). What love is this?

God died for us; He paid the ultimate price for our lives. Therefore, we should live for Him and His purpose. His purpose is that all should be saved. We are His instruments on this earth to demonstrate His love to the unsaved. This love can help bring them to repentance (2 Corinthians 5:14-15).

Love’s Characteristics

Love according to God’s word is benevolent and unconditional. 1 Corinthians (1 Corinthians 13:4-8) describes the characteristics of love. It says that love endures with patience, it is kind, it is not jealous, it does not brag, and it is not proud. Love is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not provoked, it does not hold grudges, it does not rejoice in injustice but rejoices in the truth. Love never fails. When we think of the kind of love, we see in the world, it goes against, most of these characteristics. Love in the world teaches us to put ourselves first and it is based on how we feel. The world’s love provides a way of escape when love becomes difficult. God’s love is longsuffering, and it never fails no matter how tough it gets. God’s love is about choosing to love even when it is difficult or when we don’t feel like it.

Rebuke in Love

In Revelation (Revelation 3:19) God says that He rebukes those who He loves. God does not give up on us. When we make mistakes, if we never fix it then we drift further away from the Father, and away from salvation. When we repent and turn away from such mistakes we can learn and grow closer to Him. Therefore, rebuke is for our own benefit, so that we can learn from it and build ourselves to be more like our Father. Rebuke is out of love. The one who rebukes us when we make mistakes loves us greatly as they care about what happens to us (Proverbs 3:11).

Loving God

God loves us more than anyone ever can, and this love persuades us to love Him back. But how do we truly love God? The Bible describes the true love of God as regularly keeping His commandments and being focused on His teachings (1 John 5:3). 2 John says that love is walking according to God’s commandments (2 John 1:6).

We show love to others by getting to know them and by being concerned with the things that concern them. Therefore, for us to understand God and understand what is important to Him, we need to know His Word. We need to spend time with Him in prayer and spend time getting to know Him in His Word. The love of God is perfected in whoever keeps his Word (1 John 2:5). John says that as we obey God’s Word, we show that we love the Father (John 14:15) (John 14:23). Therefore, we need to listen to Him. But how do we know what He says? His word tells us what He says.   

God promised us that those who love Him will be rich in faith and heirs to the kingdom (James 2:5). Take courage and hope in His promises and continue to draw closer to Him.

Love One Another

The two greatest commandments are to love your God with all your heart and mind and to love your neighbours as yourself (Mark 12:29-31). The Bible frequently tells us that we should love others as we love ourselves (James 2:8). Romans says to love one another genuinely with brotherly love (Romans 10:9-11) and that we fulfil the law when we love one another (Romans 13:8-10). The Bible tells us that there is no greater love than one who lays down his life for his friends (John 15:13). Jesus laid His life down for us. He loves us just as the Father loves Him and similarly, we are expected to love others as Jesus loves us. By loving one another we show that we are the disciples of Jesus (John 15:9) (John 13:34-35).

Jesus commanded us to love our enemies and do good to them that hate us (Luke 6:27). Can we do this? When we think of the people in our lives that do us wrong, can we forgive them and do good unto them? Proverbs (Proverbs 10:12) tells us that hatred stirs up strife but love covers up all offences. Loving others also demonstrates the love of God. When we love with God’s selfless, unconditional love, it is very different from worldly love and so it stands out. It testifies of the Father’s love. How can we love people like this?… it is only through God that we can.

Spiritual Gifts

Love is a gift of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). As we grow in our spiritual journey with the Father we love more truly and more like Him.

When we are saved, we are to put away the old self and put on the characteristics of the Father such as holiness, compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience (Colossians 3:9-13). The Bible also says that above all these things put on love which brings all of them together in perfect harmony (Colossians 3:14). 1 Corinthians ( 1 Corinthians 13:1-4) tells us that if we have all the best spiritual gifts but we do not have love then we gain nothing. Love is essential.

The gifts of the spirit are given for us for influencing others towards God. But additionally, as we operate in the gifts, we get better at it and it helps us to grow closer to God. Since God is Love we get better at love. Operating in our gifts helps us to grow spiritually. The Bible tells us to pursue love and earnestly desire the gifts of the spirit (1 Corinthians 14:1).

God’s Love Pursues Us

Lamentations (Lamentations 3:22-23) (Jeremiah 33:11) says that the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies shall never come to an end and they are new every morning. His faithfulness is great. God’s love never ceased for His people even when they mess up and turn away from Him.

God choose Israel as his own people and pursued them through many tribulations. Even though they experienced God’s love and saw His miracles, they turn their backs on Him numerous times. But, over and over again, God pursued them and forgave them. In the book of Hosea (Hosea 3:1) God tells Hosea to marry a woman who was a prostitute. This action demonstrated God’s love for the children of Israel even when they were unfaithful to Him and rejected Him.

In a similar way, God pursues us today even when we turn our back on Him. We can be so similar to Israel. We are unfaithful, we sin and disobey Him. Yet still, He calls us to repent and will forgive us when we do. This is a true example of the love of God. This love is not like the feelings type of love that the world practises, but it is a love of choosing to love regardless of the situation.

But we also need to remind ourselves that God will not wait on us forever. Many of the children of Israel did not make it to the promised land because they were disobedient.  

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