Loving Others

Love is the goal of all authentic Christians primarily because our Savior came to earth in great love. There are thousands of ways to demonstrate our love, short of giving our life, for other people. Of course, the fundamental ways are given to us in the New Testament. Let us look at the writings of Paul since he understood the effects of being “Spirit led” better than anyone. Humans, left to their own abilities, can never comprehend loving others the way God has determined that it should be done. Many Christians are attempting to love in the old way of following religious rules. But this involves our own interpretation of what should be done. Like the other commands of Jesus, our only real success comes when we rely on the new way of being directed by the Spirit. These two types of religion are always a choice for us, doing things our way or doing them the Spirit’s way. As we consider loving other people, may we think only of doing it as directed by the Spirit?

Maintaining harmony among believers is one of the major ways we can show our love to others. Usually discord in a church reveals a lack of love that people have for each other. Many times it is some small matter that would never be an issue if there were more love in the church. Paul said: For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness (righteousness) and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. If you serve Christ with this attitude, you will please God, and others will approve of you, too. So then, let us aim for harmony in the church and try to build each other up. Romans 14:17-19 (NLT) Love will cause us to build up others, more than normal, when we are obeying the Spirit. Loving other Christians is righteous and building them up is the kind of thing that will promote harmony. Peace and joy is abundant when the Spirit directs our life but not when we interpret religious rules.

Another principle of love is to work hard and then give-away what you have earned. Giving away our money seems crazy when we do it in a legal way but Paul said: …use your hands for good hard work, and then give generously to others in need… Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them. And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption. Eph 4:28-30 (NLT) Maybe we could say that when the Spirit is directing our life we will to do some things that do not make sense to our old nature. However, when we look at the big picture of loving each other and living together as a family for all of eternity, it puts a different light on our giving to others. Notice in this passage that for us to “not” follow the directions of the Spirit will make God sorrowful. We must not accept salvation and then displease God’s Spirit.

Encouragement is a lowly activity that can greatly promote love in our church. The better part of encouragement relies on the Spirit to show us the need and to give us the correct words for the situation at hand. Paul said this: Since you are so eager to have the special abilities the Spirit gives, seek those that will strengthen the whole church. 1 Cor 14:12 (NLT) If we overlook the arguments concerning the Gifts, we can see here that using the things God has given us to strengthen others is what the Lord wants. We already talked about giving from our hard work and now we simply extend that attitude to include the things we have not worked for. A few lines later Paul tells us: Well, my brothers and sisters, let’s summarize. When you meet together, one will sing, another will teach, another will tell some special revelation God has given… 1 Cor 14:26 (NLT) Encouragement includes anything that lifts the spirit of people. This is easily seen by the gifts of singing or teaching the Gospel message.  

The beginning and the end of a discussion on Christian love is contained in the reality of our “fellowship.” At first it is about the fellowship that we can have with God but in the end it is about our fellowship with other people. Our friend Paul concluded by saying: Dear brothers and sisters, I close my letter with these last words: Be joyful. Grow to maturity. Encourage each other. Live in harmony and peace. Then the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet each other with Christian love… May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. 2 Cor 13:11-14 (NLT) It is interesting that Paul mentions growing-up in this passage. We all know that a baby is selfish and thinks only of what it wants. If we want to be part of the “fellowship of love” it is impossible to live in our old selfish natural ways. This includes both our fellowship with God and with the Church. Even our greetings should be in a way that shows our love to others. Let us make an effort to follow the Lord by loving others.