What does that mean? How do we employ that love? What the heck does this have to do with us? Let's look at God's Word for the answer.
Known as "the love chapter," I Corininthians 13 gives a great starting point for this study.
I Corinthians 13:1-13 [Young's literal translation]
If with the tongues of men and of messengers I speak, and have not love, I have become brass sounding, or a cymbal tinkling; and if I have prophecy, and know all the secrets, and all the knowledge, and if I have all the faith, so as to remove mountains, and have not love, I am nothing; and if I give away to feed others all my goods, and if I give up my body that I may be burned, and have not love, I am profited nothing. The love is long-suffering, it is kind, the love doth not envy, the love doth not vaunt itself, is not puffed up, doth not act unseemly, doth not seek its own things, is not provoked, doth not impute evil, rejoiceth not over the unrighteousness, and rejoiceth with the truth; all things it beareth, all it believeth, all it hopeth, all it endureth. The love doth never fail; and whether there be prophecies, they shall become useless; whether tongues, they shall cease; whether knowledge, it shall become useless; for in part we know, and in part we prophecy; and when that which is perfect may come, then that which is in part shall become useless.When I was a babe, as a babe I was speaking, as a babe I was thinking, as a babe I was reasoning, and when I have become a man, I have made useless the things of the babe; for we see now through a mirror obscurely, and then face to face; now I know in part, and then I shall fully know, as also I was known; and now there doth remain faith, hope, love--these three; and the greatest of these is love.This is wonderful!...If understood. Let's break this down. Verses one through three state very clearly that it doesn't matter what I am doing, if I'm not doing it with God's love, there is no profit. Thinking about this, it doesn't seem to make sense, does it? If I'm giving to people, regardless of my attitude, they are still getting that stuff or those services, right? They are. Other people my benefit from my giving or serving, but if I'm not doing it with that agape love, I get no benefit. That's not God's will. God's will is for me to have the more abundant life! That means that God wants me to grow and be blessed as I give. This can be clearly seen both in the immediate context of I Corinthians 12-14 as well as in the whole Word of God. In John 10:10 we see that God sent his son so that we could have a life more than abundant. In Ephesians 3:20 we see that God will do for us things that are exceedingly, abundantly above all that we could ever ask or even think. We see various promises throughout The Word that state that God will answer our prayers. We see that God wants the best for us! In Malachi 3:10, God tells his people that if they even just tithe, he will pour out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it. With this knowledge, it is clear that God does want us to benefit from our giving. Let's look at an extremely clear and vivid example of a person not giving in love and not getting any benefit from their giving.
Acts 5:1-10 (KJV)
But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession, And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles' feet. But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things. And the young men arose, wound him up, and carried him out, and buried him. And it was about the space of three hours after, when his wife, not knowing what was done, came in. And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea, for so much. Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out. Then fell she down straightway at his feet, and yielded up the ghost: and the young men came in, and found her dead, and, carrying her forth, buried her by her husband.They gave. They had indeed sold one of their possessions, and they did give of that to the church. Would you say though, that they benefited from that giving? I would say...NO!!! Ananias and Sephira had a heart problem in this section. Their actions were not fueled by love, not at all. They were giving for unloving reasons, and in this case, that actually opened the door for the adversary to do some very destructive things. They even died! Peter said, "Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God." They lied to God and to men. Remember what it says about love in I Corinthians 13? Let's look at verses five and six again:
[Love] doth not act unseemly, doth not seek its own things, is not provoked, doth not impute evil, rejoiceth not over the unrighteousness, and rejoiceth with the truth;Would you say that Ananias and Sephira were rejoicing in truth or behaving themselves in a seemly way? Would you say that they were seeking the things of others first instead of their own things? Certainly not! Their giving was not motivated by love, so they did not receive the benefits of their giving and the final consequence of their broken fellowship with The Father was that He was not able to protect them, and the adversary was able to get into their hearts and kill them.They had a heart problem that led to a fatal end.
Now, if they had been honest and had been giving the same part of what they had received, if their actions had been the same, but their hearts were right, this story would have gone very differently. If they had been acting in exactly the same manner, but with hearts motivated by love, God would have been able to bless them greatly! If they had been acting in love, they would not have lied. When we give in love, there is no reason to lie. There just isn't!
The Word doesn't expound on the thought patterns that led up to their deception. They may have been fearful of what the elders would say if the elders knew that they hadn't given all that they received for the sale. They may have been searching after glory. They may have really needed the amount that they kept from the sale. The bottom line is that the Word doesn't say. What God's Word says about this is that they forged an agreement together to lie to the men of God about how much they received and say that they were giving to the church 100% of what they received rather than the portion that they were actually giving.
From this section, we saw a clear example of what giving in love is not. What is an example for us to follow? There are several in God's Word. The greatest example, of course, is Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 5:2
And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.John 15:9-13
As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.Mark 12:28-33
And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he: And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.Very clearly, we see that God wants us to love Him and others. He has given a tremendous example for us to follow in that love, namely his Son Christ Jesus.
How do we do this?
Romans 12:9-18
Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil [detest the things that don't line up with God's word]; cleave to that which is good ['to glue, to glue together, cement, fasten together'-Thayer's Critical Lexicon]. Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another; Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord; Rejoicing in hope; patient [' to endure, bear bravely and calmly: ill treatments'-Thayer's] in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer; Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality. Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not. Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits. Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.God gives a tremendous blueprint for us in how to love one another and Him. We do our best and check ourselves to see if our actions are or are not motivated by love and make changes accordingly. When we are acting out of love for one another, ourselves and The Father we are going to be blessed. It's a beautiful thing!
