More on Love

A little more about love. The more "gut-wrenching" the emotion, the more likely it is our instincts at work -- not love.

This does not make our feelings or what they lead us to do for others any less wonderful. I thank God we have such strong instincts to help our family and others. Such instincts are beautiful and good -- and in truth, our species would soon die out without them. However, "love" is the greatest when the sacrifices come from cool-headed decisions rather than "gut-wrenching" emotion.

I know just how backward, counter-intuitive and just plain ugly this sounds -- but to be effective at "loving your neighbor", this logic has to be understood. If we wait until the condition of our neighbor "gut-wrenches" our hearts, we will seldom do anything for him or her. And then, what reward can we expect from God? He told us in the Bible that even the infidels do this.

Sharing bread with a neighbor for no other reason than that he's hungry is love, regardless of any emotion we have. We call that "caring", but that is only because the world does not expect us to do it unless we DO care. God expects us to do it whether we care or not. He even expects us to do it for our enemies. If we do not understand God's definition of love, the world's definition will allow us to justify our selfish tendency to only help others when it requires little or no sacrifice on our part.

God hates sin more than anything else, yet the Bible says that, "while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." His love is our example. We are but clay and he is the potter -- yet he is willing to die for us. Would we be willing to sacrifice our lives for a clay pot? God was! That is why the Bible doesn't just say that "God loves" -- it says that "God IS love."

Purely unselfish love (sacrificial charity) is most likely an oxymoron for any living creature, including mankind. There will always be a motive -- which, by strict definition, renders the act unaltruistic. However, the less that our instincts drive our good deeds, the more that they will have to be credited to choice -- thereby being the greater sacrifice of our time, money, whatever.

It may seem like I make a big deal out of "love" being understood correctly. I DO! I am persuaded that there is no more important concept a person can get from the Bible. When Jesus was asked what was the greatest commandment, his answer was to "love" your God and to "love" your neighbor -- "LOVE". He taught that such agape (giving) love fulfilled all the law and prophesies that ever existed.

From the Sermon on the Mount to the parable of the Good Samaritan, during his entire ministry on earth, Christ taught us that sacrificial, agape love was a duty. Then, he gave us the ultimate definition by taking our penalties upon Himself and dying in our place while asking for the Father to forgive those who tortured and spit upon Him.

It was God dying for clay pots. It was love beyond our understanding, because we cannot imagine why one would or should die for clay pots. There is nothing to gain in doing that and everything to lose. It goes against our instincts. That kind of describes the word "sacrifice", doesn't it? But -- love requires sacrifice. Without sacrifice, love is, like Tina Turner sang, "just a second-hand emotion".