REFLECTION OF JESUS’ UNSELFISH LOVE

by Prof. Dr. Soundararaj Chelliah (President)

July 01, 2018

in Message of the Month

No Comments

2498

This entry is part 1 of 5 in the series Monthly Promise

Monthly Promise

1 John 4:16 →^“We have come to know [by personal observation and experience], and have believed [with deep, consistent faith] the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides continually in him.”

Greetings in the Name of our Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. As we enter a new month, I just want to spend a few minutes, meditating the word ‘love’ with you. Love is a very popular idea in today’s world, it’s on everyone’s lips. Songs are sung, books are written, and films are made all about love. The world gives an idea that love can be actually bought by money, handsome body, gorgeous attraction, and good-looking activities.

But, we often forget that love is a truly Christian idea. It is seen in its fullness only in Christ. Love originated in the mind of God, John says that “God IS love”. But what the world calls love is extremely different from what God in Christ revealed love to be. Love is used 180 times in the New Testament so it must be an important topic, it must be something that God wants us to grasp. Unfortunately, Christian families have failed to practice ‘love’ in their daily life, in their family life; church has failed to educate this love in individuals, and in families.

I. What is love?
Look at Verse 7 & 8 – Beloved, let us [unselfishly] love and seek the best for one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves [others] is born of God and knows God [through personal experience]. 8 The one who does not love has not become acquainted with God [does not and never did know Him], for God is love. [He is the originator of love, and it is an enduring attribute of His nature.]” Here we find the origin of love. John begins by telling us that Love comes from God, and the person who doesn’t love, does not know God. It is difficult to understand this statement until love is defined. So, what is love? According to Webster’s dictionary, “strong liking for someone or something, or a passionate affection for another person”. This is what the world teaches about ‘love’ – a strong liking or a passionate affection”

A young man who came to me for counseling said that his wife teases him all the time by threatening that she would leave him and that she would not allow him even to touch her till she gains the confidence that he really loves her! Their marriage was conducted in a church, and when the son-in-law complained to the parents of that girl, the parents said, “What is wrong in that?” This is modern love in many Christian families!

We see that the problem is evident -love is from God, and therefore a human definition is not sufficient enough to describe love. In modern English, love is one word that has many meanings but if we look at the original New Testament Greek we can see what type of love John is talking about. In Biblical Greek, words for love include philia, eros and agape. Phileo is friendship and it means brotherliness or companionship. – This is the love that we would have between best friends. Eros (not found in the New Testament) means sexual desire, this is where we get the word erotic from. Agape is godly love, unconditional and totally unselfish. In other words Eros is all take, phileo is give and take, and Agape is all give. All through this section the word for love that John uses is agape. It’s not sentimental love, it’s not sexual, and it’s not social love. It is a supernatural love that the Holy Spirit can put in our hearts, and only the Spirit of God can make it real to us. In other words it’s the love of God.

II. How should we love?
Do you want to see love acted out? Then look at 1 Corinthians 13, the “Love Chapter” of the Bible. Those beautiful, familiar words are practical words, too. Because what Paul is saying is, “This is how “agape” love acts. This is how it behaves.

“It is kind.” I wouldn’t say anything unkind to you because you are the object of my love, and the important part of my love is to make sure that you feel loved. I won’t envy you. I won’t boast about myself. I won’t become proud, because I am more concerned about you than I am about myself, I am not easily angered, I won’t keep any record of wrongs. We should all tear up our lists and throw them away and start anew with each other.

Love doesn’t delight in evil, evil ideas against somebody, but it rejoices in truth. Love always hopes, and it always perseveres. Love is not an object as most people who pass out heart-shaped boxes of chocolates, who give roses, who send valentines and expressions of love have no idea what real love, God’s love, is all about.

Love is more than words; it’s your actions more than your emotions. So, how do you love those who don’t show you any love? You love them as Christ loved us, your actions will show your love towards them.

Conclusion

If we are to love at all times then our love has to be unconditional. The wonderful thing about being made God’s children is that He gives us His Spirit to enable us to be like Him, and that likeness is shown most clearly in our love for others. So, as we love one another, God lives in us, and His love is perfected in us. Recently our Shalom Family Enrichment Mission conducted a senior parents’ enrichment camp and during my talk I talked about loving son-in-law and daughter- in- law. After the session during lunch time, a lady approached me and said that loving a daughter-in-law is practically not possible! How about you? Verse 12 of 1 Jn.4 says, “No one has seen God at any time. But if we love one another [with unselfish concern], God abides in us, and His love [the love that is His essence abides in us and] is completed and perfected in us” kindly note the word ‘unselfish concern’

May that be the nature of our life together and our witness to the world around us. Do we have an agape love for people? That’s what Christ wants us to have so we can show the love of God to the world through our love towards others.

Prayer: Lord, since I am a born-again child of yours, please give me the heart to love others with agape love, reflecting You in my life with the help of the Holy Spirit. In Jesus Name I pray. Amen.

Series Navigation<< LIE Not – September 2018A WISE USE OF TIME >>