Summary of Christian Love
Observations, Applications, Illumination, Illustrations and Transformations
coming out of a study that I did covering the topic of "Biblical Love".
Observations:
1. Love is a one word commandment that fulfills God's Law (Matt 22:37-40 also see Rom 13:8,10)
2. Love is a motivating force that drives us to act a certain way (Luke 10:39, also see 2 Cor 5:14 & John 15:13, 1 Thess 2:8-12)
3. Perfect obedient comes out of perfect Love (John 14:15, 21, 23, 24 also see 1John 2: 5 & 1 John 4:12, 2 John 1:6
4. Obedience is easy and enjoyable when it is motivated by Love. (Matt 11:29-30 & Heb 4:1-7 also see 1 John 5:3, )
5. The divine purpose of Love is to produce Christ-like obedience, which results in us bringing glory to God. (Matt 5:48, Rom 12:2,
Phil 3:15, Rom 4:20 also see Matt 5:16)
Applications:
1.Christianity is the only religion that was intended to be totally dependent on Love as a motivating force. (2 Cor 5:14-15). As a result,
it is the only religion that can produce perfect obedience, Godliness and Christ likeness. (2 Pet 1:3,4)
2. Strategy of our enemy: Satan wants Christians to focus on symptoms of disobedience instead of the root cause of disobedience.
The symptoms of disobedience are the rules that we continually break. Rules that we know God wants us to follow. As we pour more
time into treating the symptoms (this sin over here and that sin over there) we have less time to address the root cause of disobedience
which is "lack of love" for our God. ( Matt 23:23-26 & John 5:42)
3.Loving God: We Love Him because he first Loved us (1 John 4:19). Lord, help me to be drawn closer to you as I set aside time to
get to know you better and get to know your love for me better.
4. Loving Others: We avoid Love because we know it will lead to sacrifice. Our old man wants to avoid sacrifice. We need faith in
order to sacrifice. Lord, help me to have faith to see others as you see them so I can love them more.
Illumination:
Love sets Christianity apart from all other belief systems. Before we can love God (to the degree that He wants) we must understand
fully what He has done “in space and time” to demonstrate His love for us. The Bible says God demonstrated His love to us when He
sent His only son to die for us. The more we understand His sacrifice and love for us, the more we will love Him and love to do His will.
This love will take us where man alone could never go! (See "Understanding God's Love" page of this site.)
Illustration: Man has designed cars to run on gasoline. God has designed the Christian life to run on Love. Without gasoline,
a car can go only as fast as man can push it. Without love, our good deeds are nothing. (see 1 Cor 13:2)
Transformation:It does not matter what happens to me . What matters is how I react to the things that happen to me.
This is who I am. (see Proverbs 27:19)
A Love Worth Finding
Jesus was Born to Die
Christmas marks the birth of Christ. The Bible chronicles how He was born to die. It tells us of His perfect birth (born of a virgin), His perfect life (he never sinned) and His perfect death (it was sufficient to bring forgiveness to the whole world).
We were Born to Die. (Born into a new life so we can die to an old life)
Peter puts it this way:
1 Peter 2:24“..He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; NASU
(We were born again so that we might die to sin). Paul puts it another way:
2 Cor 5:14-15 “For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.” NASU
(We were born again so that we might die to self-centeredness.)
Why did Paul start his words in this verse with: “For the love of Christ Controls us…”
The idea of being “controlled by love” brings some interesting facts to bear. Most people that “love” something, do not find it difficult to do that thing, even if it is hard. This is because love “brings with it” a desire to “want to”. Mothers who love their children for example, will “want to” to do difficult things for their children. In many ways love enables a human to do difficult things that are extremely hard because the “want to” does the enabling. Consider what Jesus said about himself:
Malt 11:29-30 “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." NASU
Jesus is the greatest example of love in action. When it came down to the hardest thing he ever did, he was able to do it because his love for his Father gave him a “want to.”
Luke 22:41-42 And He withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and He knelt down and began to pray, saying, "Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done." NASU
Jesus tied love to obedience in the following verses:
John 14:15 "If you love me, you will obey what I command. NIV
John 14:21 Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him." NIV
John 14:24 He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. NIV
The law and the Prophets also tie love to obedience:
Deut 7:9 "Know therefore that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments; (NAS)
Neh 1:5 And I said, "I beseech Thee, O LORD God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who preserves the covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments, (NAS)
Dan 9:4 And I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed and said, "Alas, O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments, (NAS)
And finally, love and obedience are tie together in the greatest commandment:
Malt 22:35-40 One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" And He said to him, "'YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.' This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.' On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets." NASU
Obedience to the whole Law and all the Prophets is dependent on Biblical Love! Biblical Love is a “motivation force” that give the possessor a “want to” when it comes to obedience. No other religion or belief system has it, nor do any have the “reason” for it!
Application:
1 John 4:19 ”We love him, because he first loved us.”
Do you understand what Jesus did for you? If so, accept that love and let it control you!
2 Cor 5:14-15 “For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.” NASU
WR 12/25/23
Home Page
The Purpose of Love © | Privacy Policy
Last Revision of this site was Jan 11, 2024......by Wayne