What does love look like? Its a question that has been rolling around in my head for about a week. The word is used in so many different ways, and its been written about by many people who are much smarter than me. But, what I want to do is take a look at what the scriptures tell us about what it means to walk in that love that our God IS. These are in no particular order at this point. I just want to gather all the scriptures I can find that speak to this critically important aspect of our life in God. I will add some personal observations along the way. First, we see that love is the central theme of the gospel, and of the kingdom. “And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, Which commandment is the most important of all? Jesus answered, The most important is, Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these. And the scribe said to him, You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love ones neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, You are not far from the kingdom of God. And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.” (Mar 12:28-34) He could have said, “You shall obey the Lord with all your heart...” But He didn’t. He said “love”, and there is a reason. Filling our hearts with His love is the goal of His heart, and obedience is not necessarily an expression of love. It can be motivated by fear of punishment, or the desire to earn or maintain the favor of God on our lives. He wants us to trust in His love for us, and follow Him as an expression of affection, gratitude, and trust. Fear based obedience brings Him no pleasure or glory. Paul told his disciple Timothy, the pastor of the church at Ephesus, “The goal of our instruction is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.” (1Timothy 1:5) Love is the goal of our instruction as we make disciples. We need to know what love looks like. In the sermon on the mount, Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matt 5:43-48) Learning to love our enemies is part of what qualifies us to be called “sons of your Father in heaven.” We are called to love as our Father does, including our enemies, and anyone else who doesn’t “deserve” it. In this way we are found to be “perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” (Matt 6:19-24) He is looking for an undivided heart. Its interesting that he chose money to illustrate this principle. He could have used many others areas of self-indulgence to compare with, but He chose money. Perhaps He knew that this would be our greatest area of struggle. Speaking of His own return, “Jesus answered them, See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, I am the Christ, and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains. Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my names sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. (Mat 24:4-13) “The love of many will grow cold...” In the Revelation He speaks a similar warning. “But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.” Again, He doesnt correct their disobedience, but speaks to the love that they have left behind. He is concerned with the state of their heart. Our God IS love, and He desires to see our hearts filled with the same. One more for tonight... something practical that speaks to what love looks like. From Philippians 2, “So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfishness or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” “Do nothing from selfishness or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” Its doesn’t get much plainer than that. But... just in case we didn’t quite get it, he compares what we are called to with the humility and sacrificial love that Jesus walked in when He took on flesh and blood and laid down His life for us at the cross. I see people mock “love” sometimes. In fact, if you talk about it too much, people will begin to accuse you of being “soft on sin”, and some sort of compromiser. Its only because we haven’t understood what love really looks like, and how powerful it is to change the human heart. It is Jesus’ strategy for establishing His kingdom “on earth as it is in heaven.” And its going to work. He will have His way in the end. The world is waiting to see a church that walks in this love. The Lord will endorse that church with power from on high. More to come. The scriptures have much to say about what love looks like. It is quite beautiful, and quite costly. But the reward is great and eternal.
Posted on: Tue, 21 Oct 2014 05:59:34 +0000
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