LOVE ONE ANOTHER
Love Should Be Our Motive for All Good Works
Col 3:12-14 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.
God tells us to love one another just as He has loved us. Because we are in Christ Jesus, God has declared us to be holy , and He wants us to be holy in our actions. We are to be like Him, that means we are to be different from the world around us. We are not to treat others as they treat us but we are to treat them as God treats us, with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness, and love. Love is the perfect bond that keeps us together.
Matt 20:25-28 But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
We are to be like Jesus Christ who not only lived a life of service to others, but He also gave His life for us,to redeem us from the penalty of sin. We should imitate Jesus Christ in serving others. We should give our lives to serving God, by serving others. God considers the first and greatest among us to be those who put others first and do good for them. The more we give ourselves to serving others the greater we are by God’s standard. We must become slaves and servants of others, if we are to be great.
I Jn 3:16-18 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.
Talk is cheep and anyone can say I love you. True love involves more than words, it takes action on behalf of others. Jesus Christ taught us the meaning of love, when He gave His life for us; therefore, we who believe in Jesus Christ should be willing to give our lives for our brothers and sisters in Christ. True love demonstrates itself by doing good for others. If we love as Christ loves, we will give to others even if it cost us all we have. Remember the love of Jesus Christ for us cost Him His life, and if we truly love as He loved, we will not let the cost to ourselves stop us from loving others. Furthermore, we will give even when we are in need ourselves.
Rom 12:9-13 Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another; Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord; Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer; Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.
A hypocrite says one thing and does another; our love for others must be real, we should not only say I love you, we should prove our love by our actions. True love for someone involves devotion to that person. If you truly love someone you will prefer to see that person honored above yourself. True love prays for the needs of others even when the other person may have done or said something to offend us. True love continues to love even when the going gets rough, when the person loved does not show appreciation. We should always remember that in giving, and in doing good to others, we are serving the Lord.
Rom 13:8-10 Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
We are commanded by God to love one another, it is not an option. Christians are indebted to love one another. If you love another person, you do not want to harm that person, you do not want to take that which belongs to that person, you do not even desire to have that which belongs to that person; but instead, you are happy when that person is blessed. We all love ourselves, that does not mean we necessarily feel good about ourselves, but it means that we care for ourselves. If we love others as ourselves, we will make as much effort to meet the needs of others as we do for ourselves. Love always does good for others; therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law.
1 Cor 16:14 Let all your things be done with charity.
God’s word is very clear, our motive for all that we do must be love for God and for others. When we do all things in love we do not do anything to wrong anyone. When we do things without love, we may do harm to others, by our disregard for them.
1 Tim 1:5 Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned:
The goal of all those who teach the word of God should be that God’s people will have true love for God and for others, as well as a good conscience towards God and a sincere faith in God. We are all by nature selfish and we must learn to love others, to do good for others as much as we do for ourselves. We must remind ourselves to love others as much as we love ourselves, and we must also remind others to do the same. Therefore, we need to take instruction from the word of God, to learn to love others.
John 13:14-17 If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.
It is not sufficient to know the right thing to do, we must do the right thing. Jesus Christ is our example, we must serve others as He served others, if we want to be blessed in what we do, if we want to be happy, and find fulfillment, in all that we do. There is no happiness in serving oneself, true happiness comes only from serving others. We should never think of ourselves as being too great, to superior, to lower ourselves to the position of a servant. Jesus Christ, who was our example of true love, was greater than any other living being and yet He became a servant to all.
John 13:34-35 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
This new commandment, to love one another as Jesus Christ loved us, came to us from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. If we love Him we will obey His command, to love one another. As we show love for one another we are testifying to all the world that we are disciples of Jesus Christ, and actions speak louder than words.
John 15:12-13 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
There is no greater way to show love for another than to give of oneself for another. We are to give of ourselves as Jesus Christ gave of himself; and in so doing, we are testifying to the world of the love of Christ for us.
John 15:17 These things I command you, that ye love one another.
Love is never an option, it is a command from Jesus Christ Himself. We are not free to choose whom we will to love, we are commanded to love all our brothers and sisters in Christ, even those that rub us the wrong way.
Heb 10:24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
We should always be looking for opportunities to encourage one another, to love one another, and we do that best by doing good for others at every opportunity. Love is best taught by example, and love is best encouraged in others by example, by loving them even when they do not show love in return.
1 Pet 1:22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:
Since our souls have been purified by believing in Jesus Christ, we are able to love one another from the heart; but, we must make an effort to do so, because we are still in a body of flesh which has not yet been purified.
I Jn 3:11 For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.
Jesus Christ came preaching that we should love one another and that command has not changed, nor ever will.
I Jn 3:14 We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.
The person that claims to be a Christian and yet does not love other Christians is not a Christian at all. It is our love for other Christians that testifies to ourselves, as well as to others, that we are children of God.
I Jn 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
God gives all His children love for one another. The world does not love the true Christian, but all born again Christian have the capacity to love one another. Furthermore, Christians cannot experience true happiness and fulfillment unless they practice love for one another.
I Jn 4:11-12 Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.
Because God loved us we love God, and because God abides in all believers we love all believers, even those who rub us the wrong way. It may be a struggle at times to show love for some Christians; but we must keep in mind that God lives in that fellow Christian, as He does in us, and to reject a fellow Christian is to reject God. If God does not reject another person, than who are we, that we should do so.
1 Cor 13:1-3 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.
The Christian life must be a life of love, love for GOD, love for other Christians, and love for all people. If we always say the right words and speak with perfect language, and yet if we are not motivated by love, our words are meaningless. If we know all things and if we have a perfect understanding of all the Scriptures, and yet if we do not have love, our knowledge is worthless. If we have mountain moving faith, and yet do not have love, our faith is worthless. Without love we are nothing. If we give all that we have and even sell ourselves as indentured servants and give the wages of our service to others, and yet if we are not motivated by love, our actions are worthless.
Love for self can be the motive for good works. We must be careful that we do not serve others for self gain; because, if we do, our service is worthless.
1 Cor 13:4-7 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. (KJV)
These verses give us an excellent definition of love. We will do well to memorize these verses and to think about them often.
1 Cor 13:4-7 Love is patient, love is kind {and} is not jealous; love does not brag {and} is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong {suffered} does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. (NAS)
- Love is patient. Love is tolerant toward others. Love endures trying circumstances with others and maintains an even temper.
- Love is kind. Love is compassionate towards others. Love is tender, considerate, and helpful.
- Love is not jealous. Love is not envious, does not desire anything another person may have, but instead is even thankful for the advantages of the other person.
- Love does not brag. Love does not boast about oneself. When we boast about ourselves, we put other people down, by elevating ourselves above them. Boasting can make other people feel inferior to us.
- Love is not arrogant. Love is not conceited, or puffed up with pride, does not elevate oneself above others, does not lord over others.
- Love does not act unbecomingly. Love does not behave improperly towards others, does not take advantage of others in any circumstance. Love is well mannered toward others in speech, in behavior, and in dress.
- Love does not seek its own. Love is not selfish. Love seeks the benefit of others before oneself.
- Love is not provoked. Love is not easily angered, does not respond to ill treatment from others.
- Love does not take into account a wrong. Love does not keep a record of injuries inflected by others; true love is unconditional.
- Love does not rejoice in unrighteousness. Love does not rejoice when others do evil, but it rejoices when others do good. Love does not delight to see anyone involved in any form of evil.
- Love rejoices in the truth. Love rejoices when the truth is made known. Love never rejoices when someone is unjustly accused.
- Love bears all things. Love puts up with others when they are unpleasant, even when they continue to be unpleasant, unkind, and unloving.
- Love believes all things. Love believes the best about others. Love continues to have confidence in others even when no one else does.
- Love hopes all things. Love continues to hope for the best for others, even when they may not deserve the best.
- Love endures all things. Love continues to love, no matter how much it costs. Love does not give up on the person loved. Love prevails, both in good times and bad times.
* Bible Studies by Max Swan
Thus says the LORD, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the LORD. (NAS) Jer 9:23-24