If I were to burst into song with, ‘I want to know what love is,’ some of you could finish the line of this ‘80s power ballad with: ‘I want you to show me.’ To know what true love is, we must go to its source. God is love and love comes from him (1 John 4:16, 7).
He has not only told us he loves us, John writes that he showed his love among us by sending his one and only Son into the world (1 John 4:9). God has decisively proven his love for us at the cross (Rom 5:8). Christ has also demonstrated what living a life of love looks like. To steal another lyric from the ‘80s, love is ‘more than a feeling.’
As Christians, our love and compassion for others spring from God’s heart of love, from the example of Christ, from amazement at the mercy we have been shown in the gospel, and from the clear command of Scripture.
Echoing God’s Heart
God is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love (Ps 103:8). His love is unfailing (e.g. Ps 33:5) and endures forever (e.g. Ps 136:1). It’s so great that he sent Christ to bring us eternal life (John 3:16). He also loves justice and shows care for the needy. “He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing” (Deuteronomy 10:18).
Following Christ’s Example
Jesus was God in the flesh, and his earthly ministry was characterised by love. When Jesus washed the disciples’ feet, “he now showed them the full extent of his love” (John 13:1).
Matthew 9:35 tells us that, “Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.” In Mark’s account of the feeding of the multitude, we read that when he saw the large crowd, Jesus had compassion on them and “began teaching them many things.” He then also fed them. Jesus modelled selfless service and a harmony of word and deed and told his disciples to follow his example. Later, he sends them out “to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick” (Luke 9:2). He also sends us today to minister in word and deed like he did.
Amazed by God’s mercy
I believe that as people who know we are saved by grace — undeserving yet loved with an everlasting love — we can love like no other people can love. We humbly serve others as an appropriate response to how Jesus has loved and served us, especially through laying down his life to bring us to God.
At the heart of serving others is the knowledge that we ourselves have been served by Jesus. Those who know they’ve been shown mercy, love to show mercy to others. Our love in action is then the overflow of hearts amazed by the mercy we have received.
Obeying God’s Word
“If you love me, you will obey what I command,” said Jesus in John 14:15. A commitment to biblical truth (one of SIM’s values) involves doing what it says, and the Bible says to show love in action and care for those in need, saying that if we do not have pity on those in need, how can the love of God be in us? (1 John 3:17).
Jesus taught that the two greatest commandments were to love God with all our heart, soul and mind and to love our neighbour as ourselves (Matt. 22:37-38). Loving God is a fitting response to his love for us.
Part of loving God is also loving what he loves, and he loves people. So those who love God will find ways to show his love to others. They will ask themselves, ‘If I were in this situation, how would I want to be loved’?
Jesus also commanded us to go and make disciples of all nations (Matt 28:18-20). I’ve been challenged about ensuring we hold these two commands together. Loving people well includes offering both help and the hope of the gospel. It is not loving to withhold the most important news anyone will ever hear, but we also mustn’t declare the good news without showing genuine love and care. In obeying both these commands, we are loving the whole person like Jesus did.