Love is at the very heart of the Christian Life. It rises above all else -- above judgmentalism, above works righteousness, above intolerance and sanctimonious piety. Love transforms and carries us to new places in God.
The seminal band of my childhood was the Beatles. They stirred the cultural pot in the sixties just as Elvis and his contemporaries had caused the fifties to boil over. Some of what they sang about may have missed the mark and taken kids in wrong directions, but some of their music was quite accurate in talking about how we should treat each other. One such song was the classic, "All You Need is Love." The lyrics are:
Love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love.
There's nothing you can do that can't be done.
Nothing you can sing that can't be sung.
Nothing you can say but you can learn how to play the gameIt's easy.
There's nothing you can make that can't be made.
No one you can save that can't be saved.
Nothing you can do but you can learn how to be in timeIt's easy.
All you need is love, all you need is love,All you need is love, love, love is all you need.
Love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love.
All you need is love, all you need is love,All you need is love, love, love is all you need.
There's nothing you can know that isn't known.
Nothing you can see that isn't shown.
Nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be.It's easy.
All you need is love, all you need is love,All you need is love, love, love is all you need.
All you need is love (all together now)All you need is love (everybody)
All you need is love, love, love is all you need.
Now, of course, this is just a song that happens to point us toward a universal theme and a Christian value. It is not Scripture. But it does shine some needed light. Scripture tells us that God is love -- and Scripture tells us that GOD IS ALL YOU NEED.
1 Jo 4:16 — "And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him."
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is the answer for every problem in the world today. His love can heal all wounds and bring reconcilation to the hurting and broken hearted.
Paul deals clearly with the need for love in 1 Corinthians 13th chapter.from one of Paul's letters in the Bible:
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
One of the most important terms for Christians is "fellowship". This term covers our life together as Christians. This means first of all that we spend time together, in worship, educational activities, service to others, and just having fun, and in loving each other in the brotherly and sisterly sense. In addition to their primary goal, these activities help us get to know each other, and to develop into a community. The Bible refers to the Christian community using organic metaphors, such as a vine and a body. It talks about us sharing with each other and supporting each other.
When people think of Christianity they sometimes think of it as a set of prohibitions: "But it should be seen as way of life in response to God's love. Sometimes Christians actually have gotten carried away with rules. Rules of behavior have turned into an end in themselves, rather than ways of protecting us so that we can develop better relationships. However good sense normally prevails in the end. And at the center of most rules is the idea of freeing people form the bondage of sin, which destroys and weakens us, and keep us from being our best, and from receiving God's best.
Love is the key to a life of honoring God and His purposes. When we love others, we are also loving God who created them and calls on us to love our neighbor and our enemy. (Mark 12:29-31, Matthew 5:43-44). Here are some Scriptures to consider:
Galatians 5:14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
1 John 4:10-12 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
1 John 4:18-21 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. 19 We love because he first loved us. 20 If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.
James 2:8 If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, "Love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing right.
The spectrum of Love has nine ingredients (1 Cor. 13:4-6)
Patience--"Love suffereth long." Love never gives up.
Kindness--"And is kind” Cares more for others than for self.
Generosity--"Love envieth not." Love doesn't want what it doesn't have and doesn’t covet what others have.
Humility--"Love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up." Love doesn't strut, Doesn't have a swelled head,
Courtesy--"Doth not behave itself unseemly” Respectful.
Unselfishness--"Seeketh not her own." Not always "me first,"
Good Temper--"Is not easily provoked." Anger is managed.
Forgiving --"Keeps no record of wrongs." Things good things and looks for the best in others, seeing their glass half full.
Sincerity--"Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth with the truth." Never glad about injustice, happy when truth wins out.
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