Certainly, the lack of understanding and comprehension of God's will has always been the cause of humanity's ruin (Isaiah, 5.13; Proverbs 10.21), which is why the Lord Jesus, in these last times, has called his Church to examine and obey his Word (John, 5.39; Hosea, 6.3; II Peter, 3.18).
Man ceased to give honor and glory due to the Creator, stripping himself of divine grace, becoming exceedingly full of vanity and foolishness in his darkened heart, which caused God to deliver him to his own lust and uncleanness, and, consequently, to the lack of love, as Revelation 1.21-32 reveals to us:
“Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools (...) Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; Whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents and to mothers; Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful; Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.”
We perceive from a brief analysis of the biblical text transcribed above its full applicability in current society, which demonstrates that humanity is increasingly distant from God and obedience to his Word, creating for themselves doctrines (religious teachings) according to their own desires, or at their pleasure:
“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth,” (II Timothy, 4.3).
“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;” (I Timothy, 4.1).
This is the terrible condition of mankind, stripped of the grace of God.
Against the direction of this evil and perverted world, the Church has been proclaiming the good news of salvation, the genuine Gospel, founded on the doctrine of Jesus Christ and the Apostles.
This means that the Church of these last times of the Restoration has observed the commandments of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Apostles, which were practiced by the primitive Church and which had been forgotten for a long time.
Under this perspective, it is interesting that we give attention to what the Lord Jesus Christ answered about the commandments to attain eternal life:
“And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And he said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.” (Luke, 10.25-28)
“Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” (Matthew, 22.37-40).
We see that the Lord Jesus makes explicit that all commandments given by God to Israel, through Moses and the other prophets, depended on unconditional love for God and for one's neighbor as oneself (Deuteronomy, 6.4-5; Leviticus, 19-18).
Love is an essential part of a believer's life. Jesus mentioned first the need for the Christian to love God above all things. He placed on a level very close to the first commandment a second one that recommends loving one's neighbor as we love ourselves. To love one's neighbor is to act toward him as we act toward ourselves. Paul says that no one ever hated his own flesh. If we love our neighbor as Jesus commanded, he will receive from us very special treatment. Christian life without love for one's neighbor is neither life nor Christian.
This love that God demands of his Church is nothing more than the reciprocity of the love we receive from Him, who left the splendor of his glory and came into the world to give his life as a ransom for humanity:
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John, 3.16).
“To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.” (II Corinthians, 5.19).
“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans, 5.8).
It is logical that the same love that God required of material Israel he has also required of spiritual Israel, and love is the bond of perfection in the proclamation of the Gospel of Christ, as the Apostle Paul, writing the Letter to the Colossians, defined it, determining that the Church clothe itself with love:
“And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.” (Colossians, 3.14)
At this point, the questions that arise and which must be answered personally by each one of us are the following:
- 1 - Does the Lord Jesus allow us to choose whom to love?
- 2 - Can my labor in the Lord's Work produce results without the love that God demands of me?
- 3 - Have I sought to clothe myself fully with this unconditional love for God and for my neighbor as myself?
- 4 - Have I not failed in this exercise of love and faith?
For the first two questions, we find the answers in the Bible:
“But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you. (...) For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them. And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same. And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.” (Luke, 6.27-35)
We perceive the imperativeness of the verbs employed by the Lord Jesus, just as in all the passages of the doctrine that the Church has observed (such as the use of the veil by sisters to pray and prophesy, or the holy kiss, for example).
Therefore, in response to the first question, there is no way to select the people we choose to love, as it is the commandment of the Lord Jesus that we love even those who hate us, under penalty that, if we love only those we are pleased to love, we will be compared to sinners, the ungodly, stripped of the Grace of God, which are mentioned in the text initially mentioned in Romans, 1.21-32.
As for the second question, the Apostle Peter teaches us:
“According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue;
Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.” (II Peter, 1.3-9).
The Apostle Peter lists in a gradual (sequential) manner, the qualities that every Christian must have to exercise their faith. Let us note that brotherly love and charity are the final qualities that must come upon all others, and if all these qualities are found by the Lord Jesus in us and abound, we will not be idle (standing still), but rather committed to the Lord's Work.
Once again, the Word of God exhorts those in whom such qualities are not found, classifying him as blind and one who has forgotten the purification of his sins.
Still on this matter, the Apostle Paul, divinely inspired, in his First Letter to the Corinthians, made an extraordinary and sublime exposition, exalting love amid the discussion of spiritual gifts.
This is because in the Church of Corinth, at that time, there was much presumption and much dissension, which could be overcome if there was in the heart of those brothers a place for Christian love. The qualities they perhaps had, tested before God, would be of little value, because they lacked love:
“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing...” (I Corinthians, 13.1-3).
In chapter 13 we find the love that Christ lived, the reality of agape love, which means sacrificial love. Divine and Christian love. Its necessity. Its characteristics. Its durability. Agape was a new word that hardly appeared in the secular world for a new concept; it appears 116 times in the New Testament.
It must be sovereign: i) in the heart because an ecstasy, though angelic, is useless without love; ii) in the intellect because its absence makes gifts without value; iii) in the will because without love nothing is worth the supreme sacrifice of giving one's life.
The most magnificent manifestation of gifts and the most heroic self-sacrifice mean nothing. The right things must be done in the right way. Although some regard the reference to the tongues of angels as a poetic hyperbole, it denotes the language of these supernatural beings. God does not accept generosity or suffering that are not motivated by love. Selfish martyrdom is worth nothing.
“Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.” (I Corinthians, 13.4-7).
Love is long-suffering, having patience with imperfect people. Love is kind, active in doing good. Love is not envious since it is not possessive and not competitive; in fact, it wants other people to continue. Love does not deal with lightness, has the quality of self-discretion, is not ostentatious. Love does not become proud, treating others with arrogance; it is not indecent, but demonstrates good manners and courtesy. Love does not seek its own interests, insisting on its own rights and demanding precedence; on the contrary, it is altruistic. Love is not easily angered; it is not irascible or thin-skinned, rude or hostile, but is pleasant when under pressure. Love does not suspect evil; it does not keep a record of wrongs committed against it; instead, it erases resentments. Love does not rejoice in iniquity, finding satisfaction in the faults of others and spreading a bad report; on the contrary, it rejoices in the truth, proclaiming aggressively what is good. Love beareth all things, defending and upholding other people. Love believeth all things, believing the best about others, crediting them with good intentions and not suspecting. Love hopeth all things, never abandoning people, but affirming their future. Love endureth all things, persevering and keeping faithful to the end.
Its virtues are first summarized and then analyzed. They are divided into negative and passive virtues and positive and active virtues. When we think of “Love suffers long” we have eight things that love is not: it is not envious; it vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity. Then when we think of “Love is kind are four things that love does”: Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
Patient – passive – and kind – active. They are two aspects of the same quality. Without insisting on its rights, it is concerned with helping others. The reaction to offenses shows the presence of agape that creatively resolves conflicts. Love does not show itself indifferent to moral considerations. Love is not unbelieving but always trusts the person.
“Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part; But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.” (I Corinthians, 13.8-13).
The great truth is that love never fails, although everything else fails...
All gifts without love are nothing, but love, even if there are no gifts, is everything. The partial and imperfect cannot be permanent, so the permanence of love proves its perfection.
In the spiritual sense, whoever loves, lives. It is an interesting exercise to substitute the word “love” for “I” and read, if we can: “I suffer long, I am kind, I am not envious” and so on.
Thus, we come to the following conclusions, with regard to I Corinthians, 13.1-13:
- 1st Love is essential in Christian service (1-3);
- 2nd Love has distinctive qualities (4-7); and
- 3rd Love does not end with the present life (8-13).
The four things that Paul condemns as having no value without love are all things that magnify the person, feeding self-love, but cannot substitute for love for one's neighbor.
In chapter 13, Paul argues about tongues, and describes “the more excellent way” which he judged superior to the most notable gifts.
It would be good if all brothers who desire spiritual gifts would agree with the more excellent way.
The positive qualities of love: long-suffering, kindness, love for truth, tolerance, trust, hope, patience. The negative qualities are: it is not envious, it is not light-minded, proud, indecent, selfish, thin-skinned, suspicious.
Let us consider that each of these qualities was revealed in Christ during his earthly life, and if our love for God and for our neighbor is manifested through them.
Thus, as to the second question, there is no way we can prosper in the Lord's Work if we do not exercise the love of Christ in us, being reciprocal to the love He gave us and loving our neighbor in a way equal to ourselves.
Love grows in our heart to the extent that the love of God is poured out upon us. We do not have love from ourselves. The feeling of love that we experience is inspired in us by our God. Because he is love, the source of love, the origin of love. To truly love, it is necessary to correspond to God's love, to let the supreme proof of his love, according to John, 3.16, enter and dominate our heart, transforming it by the power of his blood.
Love is not a spontaneous feeling as many think: “I can only love if my heart asks me to”. If I could not develop love in my heart, Jesus would not have commanded me to love. In truth, love is like a delicate little plant that we introduce into the soil of our hearts. If we care for it by watering it, cleaning around it, it will grow and flourish. If we abandon it, it will die.
We must forcefully conclude that love is not just a feeling, as Satan wants us to believe, but rather an exercise of faith that must be put into practice by those who want to serve the Lord and please him, and who desire to dwell in Celestial Glory for all eternity.
This is what John teaches us, in his First Universal Epistle to the Church:
“He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.” (I John, 2.9-11).
“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.” (I John, 4.16).
“He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love”. (I John, 4.8).
Now, with respect to the last two questions asked above, only we ourselves can answer... let us reflect and be honest with ourselves.