Since tomorrow is the day we set aside to celebrate love,
Valentine’s Day, I thought it was appropriate to see what the Word has to say
about love.
It is important to note here that we are not just looking at
romantic love, but Godly love. Love as
seen in our culture is selfish love. It
is centered on what is in it for me.
I love you because you __________. Each individual fills in the blank
differently. This type of love is conditional.
Our society seems to feel that if you are not making me happy, no longer
meeting my ___________, then I don’t love you anymore and I can look for
someone else who will make me happy.
Godly love is unconditional. God never changes his mind
about loving mankind. He never stops
loving us no matter how much we sin, rebel, or even if we walk away from our
“first love” Jesus! 1 Corinthians 13 lays it out clearly.
1 Corinthians 13 “If I could speak all the languages of
earth and of angels, but didn't love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a
clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of
God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I
could move mountains, but didn't love others, I would be nothing. If I gave
everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about
it; but if I didn't love others, I would have gained nothing. Love is patient and kind. Love is not
jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not
irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about
injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never
loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become
useless. But love will last forever! Now our knowledge is partial and
incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole
picture! But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will
become useless. When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a
child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. Now we see things
imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see
everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete,
but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me
completely. Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the
greatest of these is love.”
When we think about love in the Bible we generally think of
1 Corinthians 13, however, there are many other references to love in the
Word.
1 John 4:16-18 “We know how much God loves us, and we have
put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God,
and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So
we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with
confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world. Such love has no
fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of
punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love.”
Here we see that our love is
perfected as we live in God. God’s love
for us drives out our all our fear, because we realize that his love is
unconditional/perfect. Think about this,
we love our children and would give our lives to protect them from harm. As humans though, we cannot protect them 100%
of the time. We are finite beings and can only be in one place at a time. However, we love them and that knowledge expels
most of their fear because they know we are there for them. In contrast, God not only desires to protect us, but he
can 100% of the time. If we could get
this truth deep in our soul and spirit we would be able to live without
fear.
Romans 12:9-13 “Don’t just
pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to
what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in
honoring each other. Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord
enthusiastically. Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and
keep on praying. When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always
be eager to practice hospitality.”
Love serves. If we love others with God’s love we will
serve those in need.
1 John 3:10-17 “So now we can
tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil. Anyone who does
not live righteously and does not love other believers does not belong to God. This
is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another. We
must not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and killed his brother. And
why did he kill him? Because Cain had been doing what was evil, and his brother
had been doing what was righteous. So don’t be surprised, dear brothers and
sisters, if the world hates you. If we love our brothers and sisters who are
believers, it proves that we have passed from death to life. But a person who
has no love is still dead. Anyone who
hates another brother or sister is really a murderer at heart. And you know
that murderers don’t have eternal life within them. We know what real love is
because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives
for our brothers and sisters. If someone has enough money to live well and sees
a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God’s love be in
that person?”
As believers we must not hold
bitterness or anger in our hearts because it leads to hatred. 1 John tells us that those who hate others
have really murdered them in their hearts. We must forgive just as God through Christ forgave us. Ephesians 4:32 “Instead,
be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God
through Christ has forgiven you.” True love forgives and 1 Peter 4:8 tell us “…
love covers a multitude of sins.” When
we choose to love rather than hate we are demonstrating God’s love.
Matthew 22:34-40 “But when the
Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees with his reply, they met
together to question him again. One of them, an expert in religious law, tried
to trap him with this question: ‘Teacher, which is the most important commandment
in the law of Moses?’ Jesus replied, ‘You must love the Lord your God with all
your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest
commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’.
The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two
commandments.’”
In his book Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis
wrote, "Do not waste your time bothering whether you 'love' your neighbor
act as if you did. As soon as we do this, we find one of the great secrets.
When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love
him. If you injure someone you dislike, you will find yourself disliking him
more. If you do him a good turn, you will find yourself disliking him
less."
Newspaper columnist and minister George
Crane tells of a wife who came into his office full of hatred toward her
husband. "I do not only want to get rid of him, I want to get even. Before
I divorce him, I want to hurt him as much as he has me."
Dr. Crane suggested an ingenious plan
"Go home and act as if you really love your husband. Tell him how much he
means to you. Praise him for every decent trait. Go out of your way to be as
kind, considerate, and generous as possible. Spare no efforts to please him, to
enjoy him. Make him believe you love him. After you've convinced him of your
undying love and that you cannot live without him, then drop the bomb. Tell him
that your're getting a divorce. That will really hurt him." With revenge
in her eyes, she smiled and exclaimed, "Beautiful, beautiful. Will he ever
be surprised!" And she did it with enthusiasm. Acting "as if."
For two months she showed love, kindness, listening, giving, reinforcing,
sharing. When she didn't return, Crane called. "Are you ready now to go
through with the divorce?"
"Divorce?" she exclaimed.
"Never! I discovered I really do love him." Her actions had changed
her feelings. Motion resulted in emotion. The ability to love is established
not so much by fervent promise as often repeated deeds.
J. Allan Petersen.
As we celebrate Valentine’s
Day let us not only remember how much we are loved by our Heavenly Father, but
act in love toward all those God has placed in our life. Let us love as Christ has loved us!
All Scripture is
NLT unless otherwise stated.
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