Love is probably one of the most difficult concepts to grasp, agree on, and act upon. The word “love” is used loosely in our society. People love soccer, people love pizza, people love music, people love coffee, people love shopping, etc. How is it that the same word which can describe food or sports is also used to describe God and his greatest commandment. The two situations are completely different!
Matthew 22: 37-38 tells us that, according to Jesus, the greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. The second most important commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself.
These two commandments are Law in God’s eyes.
Many times people associate love with emotions or feelings however if God commands us to love our neighbors as ourselves this cannot be achieved through emotion all the time. Loving our neighbors includes everyone, even our enemies. Therefore it is not dependant on feelings, it is an act of the will. This type of love is a self-sacrificial love. And it is the way God loves us.
1 Corinthians 13: 4-8 says “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.”
Tonight, while in a class my church is offering, the teacher challenged us to rate ourselves on a scale of 1-10 on how loving we think we are. By my standards I answered a 7 because I would consider myself a pretty loving person most of the time. At least, I try to be loving. However, after I read this verse I realized that I am really lacking in the loving department by God’s standards. Let me break down this verse.
Love is patient- I can’t even count the number of times I have been impatient even just in the past week. I get impatient with traffic, I get impatient with friends, I get impatient waiting for my mom to make dinner, I get impatient when I am waiting for a call.. etc. God calls us to be patient and to know that he will take care of things.
Love is kind- I can think of many instances when I knew I wasn’t being kind, however, I did nothing to change that. It is hard to be kind all of the time but if we have no interest in trying, we will never succeed in fully being able to love.
It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud- wow. Three major things I face on a daily basis. Envy, comparing myself to others and wishing that I was better like I perceive them to be. Boasting- all gifts come from God. Next time you are telling people of the great things you have done, remember that without God it would not have been possible so you have no right to claim that it was your gift. It is not proud. This point goes back to being kind. When I know I am being unkind and I know I should apologize and I don’t, I am being proud. I did this just the other day to a friend. What kind of a friend am I being by doing that? How do I expect to show God’s love through myself if I am intentionally hurting a friend?
It is not rude- This goes along with the kindness.
It is not self-seeking- Another one I consistently fail at. Loving people shouldn’t be something we do in order to get love back. It should be something we do because we want the other person to see God through us and to comfort them. It should not be based on us.
It is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs- yet again, more that I struggle with. How easy is it to be hurt and keep a list of those things buried deep down inside just to bring it up later when you are angry at the person. “Oh well you’ve done this and this and this and this to hurt me…” I know personally this is something I really have trouble with. I am easily angered and I use the record of wrongs to get back at the person. Two things that I should never, ever do. God said so himself!
Doesn’t delight in sin.
Rejoices in the truth, the Bible, God.
Always protects- Half of the time I am the one who people are needing protection from. This is definitely not good considering I am supposed to be protecting them.
Always trusts- The wall that I put up needs to come down. In order to love we must trust people and let them see our hearts. If we don’t trust them we can never truly love them. This is one of the areas I have the most trouble with. I notice it every day. But God commands me to trust people.
Always hopes- Love knows that the best can always be brought out in a person, situation, in life in general. I mean, hello!, we get to spend eternity in Heaven, in Paradise, the world cannot be that bad for us to lose hope when we know we are saved.
Always preservers- Even when the going gets tough, love fights all the way to the end.
Love never fails.
John 13: 34-35 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
