Articles & Devotionals
The Importance of Luv
There are few problems arising among Christians that could not be solved by an application of loving kindness and care. From time to time we find ourselves praising and admiring the beauty of Biblical love, but at times we struggle practicing it in daily life. The command to love a brother or sister in the Lord is found in numerous scriptures, one of which is 1 John 4. We know that this command to love exists, but have we truly made love a priority in our lives? The following points demonstrate the importance of love in our daily lives:
YLove is the greatest commandment. In Matthew 22:36-40 Jesus explained that the greatest command is to love God—and the second, like it, is to love neighbor as self. If God classifies love so highly, then surely we must make it a priority in our lives!
YLove is the greatest thing in the world. In the last verse of 1 Corinthians 13 the apostle Paul wrote that love is greater than either faith or hope. Christian, are you thinking about love this way? After faith has produced hope, and when hope has been realized, love will stand as the only one of the three that describes the nature of our character. Love is the most excellent way to live
(1 Corinthians 12:31). Don’t miss out on learning all about it and living it in your life!
YLove is the fulfilling of the law. If I love my neighbor, then I will not lie about him, steal from him, or take his wife. “Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves neighbor has fulfilled the law…therefore love is the fulfillment of the law” (see Romans 13:8-10). What other quality is said to cause one to fulfill God’s law? Every moral guideline by which God expects us to live is a moral guideline that has its base in love—the love of God. God-based love is the greatest of guidelines!
YLove is the bond that ties us together. After listing the behavior that the Christian is to wear, Paul wrote, “Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity” (Colossians 3:14). Paul singled out one characteristic above all others: love. Love here is described as a bond so essential to unity. Love binds us together. It moves us to put up with one another (Ephesians 4:2). It enables us to be forgiving (Ephesians 4:32-5:2). “It covers a multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8). Wow!
YLove is part of the fruit of the Spirit. If we are committed to walking according to the Spirit, then love will be produced in our lives (Galatians 5:22-25). Are we allowing the Spirit’s word to dwell in us richly (Colossians 3:16; Ephesians 6:17), filling our hearts with an understanding of how Jesus loved?
YLove is faith at work. In Galatians 5:6, Paul wrote, “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love.” Some Jewish Christians were trying to bind circumcision on Gentile Christians. In this letter Paul showed that this Old Testament practice should not be bound on Christians. Circumcision didn’t matter—but what mattered was “faith working through love.” Notice here also that faith by itself doesn’t amount to anything. James says the same thing in his letter (James 2:14-26). A faith that doesn’t’ actively demonstrate love is a dead faith.
YLove indicates a relationship with God. A Christian who lives and practices active love is one who really knows God. This is a major theme in the letter of 1 John. We love because God loved us (4:7-8). Our love is an indication that we are living with God’s fellowship in our lives. “If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us” (4:12).
YLove is a test of salvation. John wrote, “We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death” (1 John 3:14). Our salvation from sin is based on Christ’s love for us. He showed us that true love is active, giving, unselfish, sacrificial. “We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us…” (3:16). Such love should move us to act. John wrote, “…and we would to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him” (3:16-17). Active, unselfish, sacrificial love is evidence of salvation—evidence that a person has the love of God.
As we look at all these verses on love, who can doubt its importance? Lets “pursue love” (1 Timothy 6:11). Lets be “rooted and grounded in love” (Ephesians 3:17). Growing more and more “to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge” (3:19). jc
