Love is not just making everyone feel good about themselves!!!
In our previous post, Love Is Not (Just) a Feeling!, we saw that biblical love is more about choosing to commit to someone and to what is in their best interest and less about the intense, exciting feelings we associate with falling in love.
We’ll see in today’s Bible verses that love is also not just about making those we love feel good about themselves.
Without Love, It’s Just Noise… But What Is Love?
“If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.”
I Corinthians 13:1 (NLT)
Many in our culture, even some who call themselves Christians, would interpret this to mean, “If I don’t accept others as they are, I’m just being noisy when I speak of spiritual things.”
But love does not equal accepting others as they are.
We can find proof of this by looking in a passage of Scripture that includes what is probably the most famous Bible verse, John 3:16.
The John 3:16 Kind of Love
“For this is how God loved the world: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.
17God sent His Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through Him.
18There is no judgment against anyone who believes in Him. But anyone who does not believe in Him has already been judged for not believing in God’s One and Only Son.
19And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil.
20All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed.
21But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.”
Jesus (John 3:16-21, NLT)
“God Loved,” Not “God Accepted”
If we go the way of many in our culture and replace the word “love” with the word “acceptance” then keep reading the rest of Jesus’ words in the passage, what Jesus is saying breaks down and stops making sense. Let’s try it.
A culture-friendly version of John 3:16: “For this is how God ACCEPTED the world: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.”
Did God send Jesus because He already accepted us prior to sending Jesus? Hmm.
Let’s keep reading.
“Not to Judge” or “Already Judged”?
“God sent His Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through Him.”
John 3:17 (NLT)
Well, this seems to fit our culture-friendly version! God didn’t send Jesus to judge, but to save the world! But this is taking the verse out of context as we can see in Jesus’ next words.
“There is no judgment against anyone who believes in Him…”
John 3:18a (NLT)
We may be tempted to say, “See, no judgment. Sweet!”
“But anyone who does not believe in Him has already been judged for not believing in God’s One and Only Son.”
John 3:18b (NLT)
Wait. What?!? Already judged? Anyone who does not believe in Jesus is already judged? If God accepted the world in John 3:16, how could He have already judged the world in 3:18?
God’s light came, but people loved the darkness.
“And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil.”
John 3:19 (NLT)
Hold on. If God accepted the world in John 3:16, Jesus wouldn’t be calling the actions of people in the world evil in 3:19.
“All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.”
John 3:20 (NLT)
- There are people who do evil and hate the light.
- There are people who do what is right and come to the light.
- Jesus is the Light God sent into the world, not because He accepted the world, but because He loved the world.
So what does “love” mean?
If love isn’t merely a feeling, and if it isn’t non-judgmental acceptance, what is it? How do I know I’m loving God and loving others if I can’t rely on feelings or on accepting others as they are?
“We know we love God’s children if we love God and obey His commandments. 3Loving God means keeping His commandments, and His commandments are not burdensome.”
I John 5:2-3 (NLT)
Verse 3 states it very clearly: “Loving God means keeping His commandments.”
Biblical Love = Obeying God
More on this in our next post…
