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A key responsibility of all ministers of the gospel is to teach disciples of Christ Jesus to observe all that the Lord has commanded (Matthew 28:20). These commands are contained mostly in the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
Now, love is the greatest of all the graces of God (1 Corinthians 13:13). Love where it is genuinely manifested honours God who embodies it. Scripture does not say God is faith and hope; it says God is love (1 John 4:7-8).
If love is the greatest of all the graces of God, then, we Christians are expected to live a life of love greatly. Scripture instructs us to love God with the totality of our being, and love one another as Christ Jesus has loved us (John 13:34-35).
This is a new commandment Jesus gave to the Church to obey. It is higher and deeper than the Old Covenant requirement which asked the congregation of Israel to love their neighbours as themselves (Leviticus 19:18).
The crux of Christ Jesus’ expensive, expressive and expansive love to the whole world is that He gave His life for the eternal salvation of many who believe in Him. This He did by shedding His precious blood through the humiliating and painful crucifixion on the cross for the atonement of our sins.
In other words, Jesus loved us unconditionally, being made sin for our reconciliation and righteousness, suffering for our freedom, being humiliated for our glory and dying for our life. He saved us from eternal damnation.
We are expected, therefore, to replicate these acts of unconditional love in our communities. We must love one another, including our neighbours the same way Jesus did. The love of Jesus Christ is our standard.
We are not charged to die on the cross, but to help our neighbours in need unconditionally. A neighbour is any fellow human being you come into contact with. He is everyone who lives in your neighbourhood. Whether the person shares the same faith with you or not he is your neighbour. This means a Christian’s neighbour may be an unbeliever or an enemy.
The sad reality, however, is that today most Christians do not practically obey this teaching of Jesus. We do not love one another. We are self-centered, selfish and self-serving. We care for ourselves and members of our nuclear families only.
This is why contentment, happiness and peaceful co-existence is absent in our neighbourhoods, communities and nations. As Christians, we have no option but to learn to live by the teachings of Christ Jesus.
However, one important thing we must understand is that we cannot love one another as Christ loved us by our natural ability. We can only do so by the enablement of the Holy Spirit.
Fortunately, true born again Christians have the Holy Spirit dwelling in their hearts. Besides, God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us (Romans 5:5). So we have no excuse.
God’s love in our hearts is a seed that must influence our love life, and people must see it, bearing fruit. Jesus says, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35).
By James Quansah
