Title: We Love
Contents
1. Words that begin
The problem, however, is that since man was conceived in sin and born under sin, he has no choice but to live according to his original and natural selfishness. Therefore, far from having true love, we do not even know true love. Most people mistake instinctive and selfish love for true love. Aren't you thinking that you love because you love it, you love it because you need it, you love it because it is beneficial, and that you love it because you are attracted to it and love it?
2. Why We Love
Then, far from practicing true love, what is the way for a human being who does not know to love? In a word, it is to share the love of God received from God. Verse 19 says, “We love because he first loved us.” In that sense, man is not the source or subject of love, but the channel and instrument of God's love. When we realize this fact, we can love to our heart's content, yet feel inadequate, and be humble.
All things that are called nature that we enjoy, and our lives that cannot be changed even if given the world, are gifts of God the Creator's love. All of these are gifts of God's love, and there is decisive evidence that God's love will continue forever, and that is the redeeming love of Jesus Christ on the cross. Romans 5:8 says, "God demonstrates his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us"; 1 John 4:10 says, “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that God loved us and sent his Son as the propitiation for our sins.” Then, in verse 11, John strongly exhorts, “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”
Having received the love of all things, including the love that has been saved from sin, death, and destruction, is it not so natural for us to love the God of that love and to love human beings, the same creature?
3. Human love as part of God’s love
In Matthew 22:35 and below, there is a conversation between a certain lawyer and Jesus. To the lawyer who, as a test, asked what the greatest commandment was, Jesus answered: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind is the first and greatest commandment, and the second is, Love your neighbor as yourself.”
If we have to love God with all our heart, there will always be the question of how we can love humans with what we have. However, in reality, loving God and loving humans are not two, but one. More precisely, the love of God includes the love of man. In other words, human love is a part of God's love.
The apostle John said, “If anyone says, I love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar. He who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. A man must also love his brother.”
In fact, it is impossible for a person who does not love the invisible God to love an invisible God even though he clearly sees with his own eyes the plight of a brother who is in a specific situation in need of love. Moreover, God is visible only to children whose spiritual eyes are opened to those who have come to believe through His Spirit, the Holy Spirit.
If you are a believer who truly believes and loves God, you cannot help but love the creation of God, and moreover, the brother of faith who was saved by the blood of the Lord.
In order for us to live on this earth and live lovingly with the Lord's love, not with recognition, we need to look at the events of the Lord's love.
In John 8:1 and below, the story of a woman caught in adultery is told.
While Jesus was sitting and teaching the people, the scribes and Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery with stones in their hands and stood in the middle. They asked Jesus what he would say when Moses commanded that the woman commit adultery be stoned.
They did not try to obey Jesus' words, but to obtain conditions for accusation. It is a question that puts you in a strange situation where if you tell them to stone them to death according to Moses' command, it contradicts his own teaching of love, and if he asks for forgiveness, he becomes a violator of the laws of the country.
Jesus, who was in a dilemma, wrote on the ground with his finger and got up to the people who did not hesitate to ask, and gave the third answer. “He who is without sin among you, let him first throw a stone at him.” Then he bent down again and wrote with his finger on the ground. “He who is without sin among you, let him first throw a stone at him.” At each of these words, one person left each other, and in the end, only Jesus and the adulterous woman were left.
Jesus got up and said to the woman. “Woman, where are those who accused you? Has no one condemned you?” The woman answered, “Lord, there is none.” Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”
As we can see in this case, love is not about getting what you deserve, but about forgiving the sinner. It's not just about forgiveness, it's about reminding us of our sins and helping us not to sin again. Love is sharing the intellectual or material possessions given to you, as Jesus used divine authority.
There is a very important way to love that you can do without these possessions, and that is love of words. Just as a word from the Lord saved a life that cannot be changed by giving the world, a word of love often transforms a dark life into a bright one. Words of comfort, words of encouragement, praise, appropriate reproof, and words of forgiveness are truly precious words of love. In particular, Jesus Christ delivered through evangelism is the greatest love that humans can give.
The purpose of love is not to fulfill the needs or wishes of the other person, but to give the other person the most benefit in the light of God's will. In that sense, it can sometimes be said that appropriate discipline and the love of the whip are necessary.
The reason we need to love is not because of the other person's condition, but because the other person is a creature of God just like us who received God's love. In fact, love is love itself.
Just as the love of the Lord saved the life of an adulteress and made her depart from her sins, so the results of love are always beautiful, beneficial, and wonderful. If we make love worth 10,000 won, it will not only result in 10,000 won's worth of love. God hears our love and creates a tremendous work beyond our imagination. It is said that with 10,000 won, one child in Africa can be fed for a month. Not only that, no one knows what great things the little boy will accomplish in the future.
4. Conclusion
The secret to receiving and enjoying God's power and wisdom, grace and blessings necessary for life, is the spiritual fellowship with God. The key element of spiritual communion with God is to love God, and to love human beings, which is a part of that love.
May we all live in a love that brings glory to God and marvelous benefits to you and us all.
(Poongseong Methodist Church. Book: Complete Commentary on 27 New Testament Books/ Interpretation of Difficult Scriptures I, II/ Salvation Before Jesus Came/Paul’s Understanding of Man/ Prosperity Prayer/ Seasonal Sermonbooks/ Sermonbook 18. -3051)