A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. 35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

John 13:34-35

LOVE: THE COMMANDMENT

To fully understand what God expects from us, it is essential to explore the concept of love. Jesus summarized God’s expectations using just one word: “love”. However, this word is often used, yet not fully understood. To obey this commandment, we must first clearly understand what love is. Love is not just an emotion or a feeling, but a decision and an action. It is a selfless act of kindness and care towards others and an essential part of our relationship with God. Therefore, we must strive to have a clear image of what love is, and filter out what it is not. We must understand that love is not just a fleeting emotion, but something that requires effort and commitment. By exploring the true meaning of love, we can understand God’s intent and obey His commandments. In this blog, we will delve deeper into the concept of love and explore its various dimensions, so that we may have a better understanding of what it truly means to love others and fulfill God’s expectations.

WHAT LOVE DOESN’T DO

I will begin by highlighting what love doesn’t do.

Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

Romans 13:10

The verse above speaks to the fact that love is not only about what we do, but also about what we do not do. It is not just about being kind and compassionate towards others, but also about refraining from anything that may harm or cause ill to our neighbor. For example, love does not steal from our neighbor, because this act would cause them harm and violate their trust. Similarly, love does not lie about our neighbor or covet anything that belongs to them, because these actions would also cause them harm and rob them of their possessions. In essence, love demands that we act in a way that is trustworthy, honest, and respectful toward our neighbors and that we refrain from anything that may cause them harm or loss. By doing so, we build a relationship of trust and mutual respect with our neighbors and demonstrate our commitment to treating them with the same care and compassion that we would want for ourselves. Therefore, if we are unsure whether our actions towards our neighbor are loving or not, we can simply ask ourselves: will this action cause them harm or benefit? If it is the former, then we can be sure that it is not an act of love, and we should refrain from doing it.

WHAT LOVE DOES

Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, 5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; 6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; 7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

I will not be reviewing each word used in the verses above because the things that love does not do can be categorized in the section about how love does no ill or harm to one’s neighbor. Instead, let’s review the things that Paul says love does, as written in these verses.

1. Love suffereth long
2. Love rejoices in the truth
3. Love beareth all things
4. Love believeth all things
5. Love hopeth all things
6. Love endureth all things

LOVE SUFFERETH LONG

Can we admit that everyone has flaws? If so, then we should also recognize the need to be patient with people as they grow, just as we would want others to be patient with us as we grow. This ties into the instruction to “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” If you would like people to be patient with you, then it is wise to be patient with others as well.

LOVE REJOICES IN THE TRUTH

Paul emphasizes that love rejoices in the truth. Love always celebrates the triumph of truth and encourages honesty and integrity. It values transparency and is grateful when people choose to be truthful, even in difficult situations. Love also inspires us to seek the truth and to be open to new perspectives and ideas. It teaches us to be patient and understanding, to listen carefully to others, and to value their opinions. Love helps us build strong relationships based on trust, respect, and mutual understanding. It motivates us to live our lives with purpose and to make a positive impact on the world around us.

LOVE BEARETH ALL THINGS

This phrase means to cover (like a roof). When someone is going through a storm, which inevitably we all go through, how do you handle it? Do you expose them to the elements or do you cover them. If it were not for the roof of a building, a house would be exposed to rain, snow, and all other elements that could possibly get into the house. The Bible says if you’re going to love, then you’re going to cover them like a roof. You’re going to protect them from the elements that could do them harm. The purpose of love is to protect. So cover people like a roof and protect them from dander.

LOVE BELIEVETH ALL THINGS

What in the world does this mean? Does it mean that love is naive? Of course not. It means that you give people credit. Let’s look at what that means in the banking system and then we’ll evaluate what it means in this context.

In banking, you are giving the person a certain amount of dollars in credit, in advance of say for example them buying a house. So they purchase the home with the credit that you gave them. Now they pay you back for the money, in credit that you gave them.

How does this tie to love? It’s simple. You give them credit, meaning that you extend some trust to the person in advance of them proving they deserve it from you. If they are unworthy of the trust, you’ll find out and you can make adjustments at that point. But love gives people credit that they will either improve over time or ruin.

LOVE HOPETH ALL THINGS

Simply put, love has good expectations of everything that it finds itself in. So love is not paranoid. But instead, love expects great things to be born from anything it is attached to. Love expects good in all of its relationships whether marriage, dating, work, friendships, or family. It simply expects good, no matter the situation.

LOVE ENDURETH ALL THINGS

This means that love remains. Love is not persuaded to quit due to pressure from wherever it may come. You cannot lure love away from what it loves and what it wants. Faithfulness is built into love. Love, in its purest form, can be trusted because you know that it will always be there. You know that a person who loves you will always be there. They will not leave due to pressure because of the faithfulness that is inherent in love.

LOVE NEVER FAILETH

The word “faileth” means become “inefficient”. “Efficiency means to make the best use of time or resources. Therefore love makes the best use of its time and/or resources. This is an amazing summary of what was stated prior in this chapter. You see, the previous verses were actually telling us what the best uses of our time and resources are. You see, for example, it’s a waste of time and resources if you are in a relationship and not expecting or hoping for good. why are you there?

Another example would be jealousy. It would be a waste of your time and energy resources to be jealous or envious of someone. Do not spend your time or resources on things that serve neither you nor others. Love is the BEST use of your time and resources.

So let us love, as we have been commanded!