The Solution
In this post I will do my best to expose what the Scriptures really say about the true love. Please make sure to read the Part 1 first.
First, let us examine our human capability to truly love on our own. In order for us to do so we must first understand who and where we are on our own without knowing God in His Son, Christ Jesus, and without the the power of the Holy Spirit.
“Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Genesis 6:5
“Every one of them has turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.” Psalm 53:3 and Romans 3:12.
“As it is written: there is no one righteous, no, not one.” Romans 3:10, Psalms 14:1-3, 53:1-3, Ecclesiastes 7:20.
“For all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; and all of us wither like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.” Isaiah 64:6.
And finally, Jesus said, “But I know you, that you do not have the love of God in you.” John 5:42.
Based on these verses the human heart is inherently and increasingly wicked – also known as the curse that took place after the fall described in Genesis 3. As the result of the fall, the fellowship with God was broken, and without Him the inevitable state of the spiritual and physical corruption of the humanity has permeated throughout the generations creating an enormous void that only God Himself can fill. God in His abundant mercy and grace provided us with an escape plan, but at a great cost, not to us, but to Himself – that He would climb on the cross taking the sins of the entire world upon Himself, and give His life for yours and mine as a payment in accordance with His law. He didn’t stop there. He came alive on the third day to pave the way to the sweet salvation from death and the way home to Himself. If that weren’t gifting enough, He provided us with God, The Holy Spirit, who would indwell in those who believe for eternity. And the purpose of that was to equip us with the faith to go on, the strength to endure, the light to persevere, the wisdom to discern, and the love to give away.
You see, we do not posses any of these things on our own. God, in His infinite wisdom had to give us Himself, who is love, in order for us to be able to love Him and the people He created. Only then we are able to see our fellow human being through the eyes of the Creator who is in us. Only in Christ Jesus such a marvelous thing is possible, and only in believing in Him our fellowship can be forever restored.
How do we then define that which we do on our own without God, you ask? Our actions and thoughts based on our own “righteousness” are as filthy rags to God. In Isaiah 64:6 the Hebrew translation of the expression filthy rags or garments is female menstrual garments. According to what God is saying here no matter what it is that we do on our own including so called “loving” another human and even to the point of sacrificing our own life for them is just that, filthy rags to God.
How can I be? Simple, nothing can earn us a place in heaven with God Almighty without us excepting the ultimate sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ, and that means fully surrendering our lives to the Lord. Even when we are saved and make a decision to sacrifice our life for another person based on our own will, without God asking us to do so, we are still saved, but gain nothing, and no more righteousness is credited to us regardless of our noble intent.
It is only by His faith, righteousness and love, and in full obedience to His will while being controlled by His Holy Spirit we are able to please God, and therefore earn heavenly rewards or crowns.
No matter how difficult the task is that He is asking you to perform, He views you as a victor already. Why? Because God never asks us to do anything he hasn’t already provided for for us to succeed. The only question is, will we out of obedience exercise the faith He has given us to complete what He asks us to do? Loving Him and the people around us is His command, and the completion of it has been provided for. If we would just quit worrying about the outcome, and instead focus on Him and our walk, step by step, the rest is guaranteed, but remember always, outcome according to His will, and not ours.
Love is perhaps one of the most difficult tasks when it come to loving those who deserve wrath in every aspect possible. Especially when we are so certain that we will be trampled upon, ridiculed, laughed at, or even insulted. What about loving someone who has completely drained your trust account, and feeling like a “prophet” effortlessly predicting the adverse outcome of your love you conclude, why even bother?
That is precisely why God gave us His immeasurable love which we can use over and over again and never run out of it. Our main goal in life must be to gradually learn how to love unconditionally and continuously, and that is only possible by allowing for spiritually maturity to take place in us through the ever increasing knowledge of The Holy One. And that is only possible by studying His Word and living it out. The more we learn about who God is, the longer we walk in His Spirit, and the shorter our time spent in the flesh becomes – working out our salvation (Philippians 2:12).
Now that we have established our inherent inability to truly love God and people without Him providing us with His love first, let us look at the process of receiving and successfully / faithfully exercising the love of God.
1. Personal acceptance of the love of God in Christ Jesus – Salvation
First, we must receive the love of God from Him by the Holy Spirit who pours it out in our hearts after we receive the Holy Spirit at salvation. In Romans 5:5 Paul says, “....and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”
Now because of the salvation not only we are provided with the ability to grow in the knowledge of God, but also now we are known by God. Of course, God knows all of His creation better than anyone. However, it is only through salvation one can be known intimately by God. Otherwise why would Jesus say that some who will call him Lord will not enter the kingdom of heaven? They will be rejected by Christ himself who said, “I will declare to them, I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice lawlessness”. (Matthew 7:22-23).
In contrast, Paul lets us know in 2 Thessalonians 2:10 that those that perish are and will be greatly deceived “because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved”.
2. Love your God
It is interesting that the first commandment to love our God is impossible to exercise without first receiving the love of God from Him as we just laid out above. It is in His abound grace and mercy He provided us with His own love in order to love Him back, and truly nothing less of that love will ever be excepted by Him.
How are we to love God? “With all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37). And again, it is only possible when God owns your heart, your soul and your mind.
3. Love your neighbor as yourself.
There is a reason why the second commandment is second. It is impossible for us to truly love any human being without knowing God and loving Him back exercising the first commandment first.
How do we actually do it? Please follow me in this logic: according to the second commandment, we must love others as ourselves. If that is true, then I need to learn how to love me first. Not only that, but if I want to love someone more, than I must love me more. I know, it does sound kind of selfish, but is it?
Recently I picked up a Christian book on marriage, my most favorite subject, and reading through the first few pages of the book I stumbled upon the phrase, “you must love yourself less in order to love others more”. Sounds very noble and selfless, but according to the first and second commandment it is not entirely true and can be very misleading and detrimental to our loving of others. As a physical location is of a paramount significance when it comes to investing into a real estate in order to maximize the returns, so are the definitions are vital when it comes to identifying the truth about who we are and how we ought to act according to the word of God. Let us not be confused about this.
If I am saved, and God, the Holy Spirit, takes the permanent residence in me pouring out His love in my heart to love Him back, then I am now able to love me with that same love. My ability to love me according to the Holy Scriptures will grow as my knowledge about God grows. Loving myself with the love of God is always in accordance with the will of God, and therefore without any trace of selfish ambition or any desires of my flesh which is based on lust of the flesh against which the Holy Scriptures so adamantly warn us. Please see John 6:63; Romans 8:4-6, 9, 13; Galatians 5:13,16,17; Galatians 6:8.
Loving ourselves according to God’s will and with His true love is neither easy nor instant upon the salvation, but rather, as a part of our spiritual growth, when walking with God, under the control of the Holy Spirit and while focusing on Jesus, we are more accepting of God’s grace, mercy, forgiveness and love for ourselves. Only then we are able to experience and hang on to our contentment, peace, joy and security in who we are in Christ Jesus, so that we are able to love others.
The unconditional and eternal love of God in Christ for you is learned and practiced with time and can never be a point of arrival. It is the product of working out of your salvation that eliminates fear that we are not enough, not worthy, or a failure.
“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free”, Galatians 5:1. Only when I am free from any fear, I can truly love anyone with the same love that I am loved by my Creator Who so abundantly poured out His love in my heart. Anything less than that is not of God, and therefore not the true love.
Stay tuned for Part 3 where we will discuss the practical implementation of the true love for those around us.