What it means to love

 

Jesus came to this earth to teach us, by His words and example, just what it means to love.
This is of supreme importance because: "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love" (1 Jn 4:8 NIV). Hence His farewell word to his disciples: "This is My commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you." (Jn 15:2).
 
But how did Jesus love his disciples?
 
He loved them forgivingly: He told Peter that he must forgive his brothers "seventy times seven" (Mt 18:21-2), and He applied this teaching in His own life.
 
How often His disciples' obtuseness (Jn 6:60), worldliness (Lk 9:54), lack of love for each other (Mk 9:34), and craven cowardice (Mk 14:50), must have driven him almost to despair. Yet, having loved His own, He loved them to the end.
 
He met them after His resurrection without one word of recrimination. He loved his disciples forgivingly. And so must we. Our brethren in our church or assembly may try us almost to breaking point, but if we love them as the master loved, we will never cease to forgive.
 
Selfless
He loved them selflessly: From the very beginning of His ministry Jesus gave Himself without stint to His disciples. They were His companions, night and day. He gave them everything He had. He knew all about them (Jn 2:24), and knew that in so many ways they were unworthy of His teaching, and unworthy of His love. Yet He never ceased to share with them, and to love them.
 
We must be the same. To be a true follower of the Lord Jesus we must give ourselves to others, we must give them all we have, even if they are unworthy of that teaching and of that love.
"This is the way the master went. Should not the servant tread it still?"
 
The meaning
He also taught his disciples what it means to love through His relationships with other people. He showed that . . .
 
Action
Love is action: When "a great multitude" followed them into "a desert place", He met their physical needs by feeding them with "five loaves and two fishes" (Mt 14:17). By actions such as this Jesus taught His disciples that love must always have a practical application. Much later on John wrote: "My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and truth" (Jn 3:18).
 
Love does not discriminate: With us, as a rule, we love those who appeal to us, and we do good to those we deem worthy. But Jesus loved the unlovely, such as lepers (Mt 8:2), and did good to those whom all others considered unworthy, such as the woman caught in the act of adultery (Jn 8:11).
 
His teaching on love was the most radical this world has ever know, and even included loving our enemies (Mt 5:44). If we are to be His followers we must love all people, without discrimination.
 
Sees beneath
Love sees underground: We tend to look on the outward appearance and to adjust our attitude towards others by superficial things. A person's appearance, clothes, manner, speech, and such like, puts him in an established category, and we react accordingly. But Jesus saw underground.
 
Concerning the despired and hated tax-gather he said: "He also is a son of Abraham" (Lk 19:9). Much to the horror of the Pharisees, He accepted the worship of a woman of the streets, and praised her for her loving kindness. (Lk 7:36-50). He looked upon every face to see underground something of the image of God, something to love.
 
Never fails
Love never fails: Wherever Jesus went He found men and women hungry for love. On the conscience-stricken face of Zacchaeus (Lk 19:5), on the lonely face of the ostracised woman of Samaria (Jn 4:7), on the despairing face of the friendless man at Bethesda (Jn 5:7), that hunger for love reached his heart.
 
Therefore He laid down this essential requirement for His disciples: "You must love people, all people. You will never win them for Me if you do not meet their hunger for love. Everything else may fail, but love never fails".
 
Genuine
Love must be genuine: There is a cruel way of being kind, and a loveless way of being loving. This was Jesus' charge against the Pharisees. They sounded a trumpet when they did their alms (Mt 6:2). The right way to give alms, said Jesus, was "not to let your left hand know what your right hand is doing" (Mt 6:3).
 
By word, and by example, Jesus taught His disciples that genuine love is altogether free of self-praise, and desires no reward. To love this is to love as Jesus loved.
 
Tuesday
RUTH 1:6-18
The story of Ruth, and her mother-in-law Naomi, is a beautiful illustration of a true love between women.
The intensity of this love drove Ruth to leave her country, mother, relatives and friends for a foreign land and an uncertain future. Human love has many expressions, and the love of women for one another is one of them.
 
Wednesday
2 SAMUEL 1:17-26
"Your love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women" (v26).
Jonathan fell in love with David at first sight. "The soul of Jonathan was knoi to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul" (1 Sam 18:1).
This love never faltered for the rest of his life. There is no hint of homosexuality here. This beautiful lament by David on the occasion of the death of Jonathan reveals the deep love he had for his friend. Just as there can be a deep love between women so there can be a deep love between men, without any need to suggest sexual aberration.
 
Thursday
2 SAMUAL 18:24-33
"O my son Absalom! my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son" (v33).
Absalom, King David's handsome son, rose up in rebellion against his father. His death, at the hand of Jaob (2 Sam 18:14), put an end to a terrible civil war. Joab rightly accused David of being less than grateful. He said, "I perceive that if Absalom were alive, and all of us were dead today, then you would be pleased" (19:6).
This cry from the heart reveals the depth of David's love for his rebellious son. Many sons are in a state of rebellion today, but a father's love should remain true and deep despite everything. Do you agree?
 
Friday
SONG OF SOLOMON 2:1-7
The Song of Solomon is the greatest love song ever written.
It glorifies the passionate love which can exist between men and women: and the fact that it is included in the canon of Scripture shows that God's seal of blessing is upon the physical expression of the marriage-love relationship which He himself instituted (Gen 2:24).
 
God is not against sex. He invented it; and His word declares it to be beautiful and holy provided it is confined within the marriage bond.
 
Saturday
ROMANS 5:1-11
"God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us" (v8).
If we seek a reason as to why we should love others, especially those who "despitefully use us, and persecute us" (Mt 5:44), the Bible replies that this is because God loves like that.
It was while we were in a state of rebellion against God that Christ died for us. Such was the nature of God's love. We must love after the same fashion.
 
Sunday
LUKE 10:25-37
The question asked by the lawyer is a supremely important question for us all.
"Who is my neighbour? Whom am I supposed to love?"
Jesus replied, in effect, "You must see your neighbour in every man in need, no matter who he is. If you really love God you will love that man; and you will render such help you yourself would long for if his need was your need."
Love means much more than feeling sorry. It means action ­ with no counting the cost.
 
Monday
1 CORINTHIANS 13
Dr William Barclay lists 15 characteristics of love mentioned in this chapter:
Love is patient with people; love is kind to all; love knows no envy; love never boasts; love is not inflated with its own importance; love is gracious; loves does not insist on its rights; love never flies into a temper; love does not store up resentments; love finds no pleasure in evil; love rejoices in truth; love can endure anything; love trusts; love never ceases to hope; love persists to the end.
 
All these characteristics were seen in the life of Jesus, our perfect pattern for loving.