Love, The Most Important Thing

I listen and hear alot of conversation about love. Sometimes I am not certain how the word love is being defined or used. However, I know one thing and that is Love is the most important thing.

The love that Christ and his disciples speak about is agape love. Agape love is an unconditional love that God has for us and we have for Him.

We sometimes think of love as emotional or physical, more of an erotic love, butg the love that God has for his children is more of a love that a father has for his child.

I don't know the exact number of times Christ or his disciples used the word love but I can say that you might be able to find it in most of the 66 books of the Bible.

Biblical love has God as its object, true motivator, and source. Love is a fruit of the Holy Spirit and is not directed toward the world or the things of the world (the lust of the eyes or flesh or the pride of life).

The ultimate example of God's love is the Lord Jesus Christ, who said, "I give you a new commandment: that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you should also love one another." (John 13:34)

One of the things that becomes clearer to me as I study the word of God is that if we were able to save ourselves from sin and obey the 10 commandments, God wouldn't have had to send his son, Jesus, to die for our sins.

The Bible tells us in Romans 12:9 that "Love must be sincere. We must hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves."

It goes on to say,"Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves h is fellowman has fulfilled the law." (romans 13:8)

Verse 9 in the same chapter states that all the commandments are summed up in this one rule: "Love your neighbor as yourself."

Most of us have learned how to pretend to love others, but sincere loves requires concentration and effort, it means helping others become better people. It demands our time, money, and personal involvement. So we should look for people who need our love, and look for ways we and other fellow believers can love the body or community of Christ.

Why is love for others called a debt? We are permanently indebted to Christ for the love he poured out on us when He died on the cross for our sins. The only way we can even begin tor epay this debt is by loving others in turn. Christ's love will always be infinitely greater than ours; we will always have the obligation to love our neighbors.

When we love our neighbor as ourselves, we make sure that others are fed, clothed, and housed as well as we are. Loving others as ourselves means to be actively working to see that their needs are met. The reason the Apostle Paul said that all the commandments could be summed up into one is because when you love, you don't want to hurt others or see others suffer.

You won't turn your head and pretend that the people around you and your neighborhoods don't exist. You will want for others the same as you have for yourselves.

Thought for Today: Love is the most important thing. If you love God than you will love your neighbor.