The Love Challenge

Perhaps the best news of all is that God, the Creator of the universe, loves each of us. He made us and treasures his creation. He is our father and loves his children. Through the sacrifice of his son Jesus, he arranged for our redemption, the forgiveness of our sin, and the adoption of each of us who believe into his family. As the Scripture and several songs say, “There is no greater love!”

What are people so loved to do? You’d think it would be obvious, so obvious that no command would be necessary. Yet, when asked, Jesus said that this was the greatest commandment, to love God with all one’s heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love one’s neighbor as oneself. As I said, it should be obvious, the most natural response to the greatest gift of love, to love in return.

Is it easier to love God or to love others? Personally, I suspect that learning to love others is how we begin to learn to love God. If we cannot love the visible and tangible, how on earth might we love the invisible and intangible? Of course, Jesus tells us. “If you love me, do what I say.”

Paul warns us in I Corinthians 13 to be careful in thinking we can serve God yet be careless of love. It ain’t gonna happen! Without love, nothing we do has any value–not work, not art, not ministry! Loveless miracles are worthless. Loveless teaching is pointless. Loveless worship is a waste of time.

Some time ago, I took I Corinthians 13 and amplified it, paraphrased it. I was trying to find a way to take something so familiar as to be easily ignored and attempt, instead, to grab people’s attention. Does it work? You tell me. I know this, that when I was working on it, I was convicted by my own words. Love isn’t easy; it doesn’t come naturally to us sinners. It is easier to be selfish, self-centered, and proud. Love challenges our natural, fallen carnality.

The good news, of course, is that our savior and friend is working in us “both to will and to work” to get the job done, in this case to love. Even when we fail, and let’s be honest, we fail a lot, he still loves us, forgives us, sets us back on our feet, and pushes us to keep trying, to keep loving. Like Paul says at the end of I Corinthians 13, of faith, hope, and love, “the greatest of these is love.”

(Originally posted on September 7, 2008)