God’s Love Never Fails
The bedrock of Christian faith is God’s unconditional love, a concept so essential that Jesus Christ identified it as the singular mark of His followers. Understanding and actively practicing this divine love is the key to living a spiritually fulfilling and impactful life. The Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians regarding this love, emphasizing that it is the very nature of God Himself.
The Defining Nature of God’s Love
Drawing from 1 Corinthians 13, the Bible defines God’s love through specific, non-negotiable attributes:
- Endurance and Kindness: Love suffers long and is kind.
- Humility: Love does not envy, does not parade itself, and is not puffed up.
- Focus on Others: Love does not behave rudely, does not seek its own interest, but seeks the welfare of others.
- Moral Integrity: Love is not provoked, thinks no evil, and importantly, does not rejoice in iniquity or sin, but rejoices in the truth.
- Perseverance: Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.
Crucially, the Bible confirms that God’s love never fails. If God loves us with this standard of love, He commands us to turn and love others in our lives just like He loves us.
Jesus’ New Commandment: The Cornerstone of Faith
Jesus issued a definitive command to His followers, making love the cornerstone of discipleship. In John 13:34, Jesus said, “A new commandment I give you, that you love one another as I have loved you“.
While the Old Testament mandated loving one another, this commandment was “new” because Jesus, having revealed the full depth of God’s love through His sacrifice and resurrection, would write this requirement on the believer’s heart through the Holy Spirit.
Jesus confirmed that this love is the distinguishing characteristic of true belief:
- Proof of Discipleship: “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love one for another“.
- Sacrificial Standard: Love means being willing to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
This practice of divine love starts immediately in the house of God (among fellow believers) before extending to neighbors in the wider community.
Love in Action: The Fulfillment of the Law
The Christian life requires love to be without hypocrisy. Believers must abhor what is evil and cling to what is good. This means being kindly affectionate and honoring one another, giving preference to others.
The demonstration of love is directly linked to obedience to God’s commands, as love will cover a multitude of sins (meaning it prevents us from pointing them out or blaming others).
The Prohibition of Harm (The Negative Command)
Love is the fulfillment of the law because love does no harm to a neighbor. We owe everything good we can possibly do to others. The concept of love prevents actions that actively harm another person or relationship:
- Murder and Stealing: You cannot love God or your neighbor if you commit murder, steal from them (even small amounts), or lie about them (bear false witness).
- Covetousness: Love prohibits coveting what a neighbor has, such as promotions, success, or relationships. Coveting leads to internal conflict (“coach going on”) and a lack of happiness for the other person’s good fortune.
The Rejection of Counterfeit Love
True love is incompatible with sin, particularly those sins that destroy foundational relationships.
- Adultery vs. Fornication: Sex outside of marriage is fornication, while sex that breaks up a marriage is adultery.
- Practicing Sin: You cannot be a Christian and practice adultery or other destructive sins. Such actions are not love; they are lust, fornication, and sin in God’s sight. A true Christian who falls into sin, like King David, will immediately repent. The Holy Spirit will make the true believer repulsed at these things.
- Genuine Repentance: Repentance must be genuine, demonstrated by coming on one’s “belly with tears,” hating the sin because it offended a holy God, and offering no conditions. Believers should not have to solicit repentance from the offending party; it should be evident and unsolicited.
The Consequences of Lovelessness
Failing to adhere to God’s standard of love has severe real-world and spiritual consequences.
Destruction of Marriage (A Modern Pandemic)
Ministers across the United States are currently witnessing a pandemic of the destruction of marriage like never before seen. This destruction occurs when someone in the marriage chooses to love themselves more than God.
Choosing personal “jollies” (pleasure) over God’s command leads to immense damage, for which the offending person will ultimately pay. Believers cannot sit idle when facing this destruction.