What is Love?
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, 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.” This is how the Holy Bible describes love and you can read this in 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8.
So love is characterized by other virtues which include patience, kindness, truth, hope and goodness. For this reason Jesus Christ held that love is God’s greatest commandment. In the Holy Bible we read: “A lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law” (Matthew 22: 35-40).
Furthermore, all other Christian beliefs and values lead a person to the ultimate goal which is love. For in 1 Timothy 1: 5 the Bible states “Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith”.
So it can be seen from the above that the Christian view of love is that it leads to other virtues such as peace and joy, and that other virtues, such as patience and kindness, show love. Yet without love all virtues are empty. For the Holy Bible says in 1 Corinthians 13: 1-3, that “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.” So from this we understand, for example, that charity without love is not charity and wisdom which isn’t used to give love achieves very little. And how wonderful is this love spoken of in the Bible – that it is better than faith that moves mountains!
So how much love is enough? How much is a Christian supposed to love? Jesus Christ said “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” (John 13 : 34). Here, Jesus adds the highest standard to love – that we love one another as He loved us. And how did He love us? He loved us to the extent that he died for us. For the Holy Bible says in Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Also in 1 John 4:10-11 “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” Again, Jesus reinforces saying “This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends” (John 15: 12-13).
True Love
The Holy Bible contains a beautiful verse that says, “God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them” (1 John 4:16). Here we see that in Christianity, God is the fullness of love. A love that is infinite, as He is infinite, and a love that is completely holy for he is holy. But how can a Christian know if they walk in the way of God’s love? The answer is summed up in the Bible, Proverbs 23: 26, “give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways.” To observe God’s ways is to obey his commandments for as mentioned above, the purpose of God’s commandments is love and love is the greatest commandment. Love accomplishes all goodness. Also the Bible says in 1 John 2: 5-6, “if anyone obeys His word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in Him: Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.” However the Bible advises us that “If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?” (1 John 4:20). The Bible also advises us in 1 John 3: 18 “let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth”. Therefore true love is a practical love which can be seen by showing care, consideration and giving. A person who has true love will sacrifice their needs and comfort for the needs and comfort of others. His or her heart is full of love and it will show on his or her face, eyes and be accompanied with joy. It should be said here that true love is completely different to desire for true love gives but desire only takes.
Note that just doing good isn’t enough. This is because one may do good because he or she is obliged to, or seeks a reward, or seeks to be celebrated for doing good. Rather, true love is to love God and to love others and to truly care for the well being of others. This love will always inspire doing good for the Holy Bible says “Love never fails” (1 Corinthians 13:8). The Bible also says “Let all that you do be done with love.” (1 Corinthians 16:14)
We read in the Bible that Jesus loved those around Him. When He fed the crowd of five thousand the Bible says” And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick” (Matthew 14:14) and “And Jesus, when He came out, saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion for them, because they were like sheep not having a shepherd. So He began to teach them many things” (Mark 6:34). All the miracles Jesus did, He did with love and compassion. When He healed a leper the Bible says “Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him” (Mark 1:41), and he was cleansed. When He healed the two blind men in Jericho, the Bible says, “So Jesus had compassion and touched their eyes. And immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him” (Matthew 20:34)
Jesus Christ said, “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love” (John 15:10) and “ He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me” (John 14:21). Dear friend, if you reach love you have reached God because “God is love” (1 John 4:16). Let’s try to solve all our problems with love and remember the Bible’s description of love as mentioned above (1 Corinthians 13: 4-8). Let’s try to have the love of God in our hearts so that we can live life without wrongdoing. Let’s beware because lack of love results in selfishness, cruelty, lies, violence and all that is opposite to God’s commandments.