The trouble with love

There are different kinds of love which are well defined in Greek literature, but the highest form of love is a new kind of love introduced in the New Testament, and it is this love by which all things are measured in this life.

God’s love, the love that is beyond measure, all encompassing and unconditional, is eternal, but was not really understood until it was demonstrated by His Son Jesus during His sojourn in the earth. When we see the love that Jesus displayed we see the love of God in action.

No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.

John 1:18

This love is called, in New Testament Greek, agapē. It is demonstrated in the way in which Jesus sacrificially gave Himself for all humankind at the cross of Calvary, in order to redeem us to the Father through faith in His substitutionary work. He took our place in death to bring us into righteousness and eternal life (2Cor.5:21).

A new commandment of love

Walking in love, then, becomes the great calling for those who believe in and follow after Jesus as His disciples.

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

John 13:34-35

Love is not an option for the believer. It is a charge, but it is a command accompanied by a new nature. Faith is our great shield against the world’s onslaughts, tests and temptations, but faith works by love (Gal.5:6).

We are given the Holy Spirit, the fruit of whom includes agapē love (Gal.5:22). His nature is infused into ours. We are recreated spiritually and this addition of love, as well as the other fruit of the Spirit, becomes part of who we are.

Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.

Ephesians 5:1-2

Therefore we need to learn to exercise love. And we will be given daily opportunities to demonstrate the love of God. We will be tested and tempted by the things of the world. We will buffeted by the intensity and excesses of the world including attacks against our character and our new-found faith, which is always tried in the crucible of life (1Pet.1:6-7).

Nature of love

Paul’s great admonition to love tells us the exact nature of love. It is such a hard set of standards for the old carnal nature that we will constantly need to be in a godly state of heart and mind to be able to walk in this level of love. That is why we need to be born again, and take on the nature of Christ through His Spirit in us.

The carnal nature is enmity against God. When we are born again we will receive the Holy Spirit who will teach us how to walk in His gifts and fruit, which are seen in His power and character. Then we will be empowered to walk in His standards of love.

Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never fails.

1 Corinthians 13:4-6

For the carnal mind this is the trouble with love. We have to let go of those things that would bind us to this world and to this earth and to these times. We are of a higher dimension with a higher code of conduct and living. We are given a level of grace with which the world cannot cope, and nor can we, without the very nature and presence of God to empower us and keep us.

We are not short of coping devices spiritually which will help us fend off the temptation to bear grudges, lack forgiveness, seek reprisals or demand our own way in everything. We have been given love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Through these we can walk in love by walking in the Spirit.

We have been given a very precious commodity. We have entered into an incredible realm of faith, love and hope (1Cor.13:13). We have come into the kingdom of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost (Rom.14:17). We have been given the Spirit of love, and of power, and a sound mind (2Tim.1:7), and we have been given the fruit of the Spirit, including love (Gal.5:22).

Our identification with Christ means that we can put on His garments and put off the old person we were.

We can walk like Him and talk like Him. We can live like Him and love like Him.

Love is always the way forward.