What Is True Love? Jerry Bates Love is a popular topic in today’s world. The popular refrain is that we should just love one another. The apostle John talked a great deal about love, so much so that he is called the Apostle of Love. He declared that love is necessary to being a disciple of Christ, so that if we do not love our brothers in Christ, we have not been born of God (1 John 4:7-8). What does it mean to love our brothers? In 1 John 3:14-15 John wrote, “We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.” We see that love and hate are opposites. There are only two options. We either love or hate; there is no in-between. If we hate, it is the same as being a murderer. Most people look at these verses and assume that they love everyone. After all, if hating is like being a murderer, then it is easy to say we do not hate anyone. We do not want to hurt anyone; therefore, we do not hate. If we do not hate, then we must love, since there are only two options. Thus, according to this view, love is simply the absence of doing anything bad. This makes love easy, because we can love by doing nothing. In contrast to the above view, look at how John viewed love. In 1 John 3:17 he wrote, “But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?” In other words, love means helping someone who is in need. This does not refer to a stranger begging on the street, but to a brother whom you know is in need. If we do not help, we do not love. If we do not love, then obviously we must hate, since there are only two options. According to John, love means doing good to others. Love is not merely the absence of doing anything bad; it is the presence of good actions. This makes love hard. True love is not easy; nevertheless, God demands true love from His disciples.
Posted on: Mon, 22 Jul 2013 20:50:44 +0000
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