There are many examples of love shown in the scripture that help to teach us the proper response to others.
For example, we see numerous examples of a mother’s love for her child. Sarah’s love for Isaac, the son of promise, is found in Genesis 21:6-7,10. Rebekah loved Jacob, Genesis 25:28. Moses’ mother loved him, Exodus 2:1-11, as did the daughter of Pharoah. Many other Old Testament examples could be cited, such as the virtuous woman of Proverbs 31, and Hannah’s love for Samuel in 1 Samuel 1 and 2. The New Testament teaches the same in Mary’s love for Jesus, chronicled on many occasions, and the directions that Paul gave to Titus in Titus 2:4.
Of course, there is the analog of a Father’s love. Shown by Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David and Solomon among others. In the New Testament we see the teaching of Paul, writing to Christian fathers, “And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4). This shows that true love for a child is seen in spiritual instruction and discipline. This is something that is lacking in our day and time.
Another obvious example of love is seen in the love between a man and woman. It is seen in the creation of the woman for the man in Genesis 2:21-25. It is seen in example with Abraham and Sarai, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Rachel, and Solomon and the Shulamite. We see it in the writings of King Lemuel in Proverbs 31:10-31, Paul’s words in Ephesians 5, and Peter in 1 Peter 3:1-7.
But love goes way beyond our families. The duty to love in the life of a Christian is all encompassing. We are to love our brethren, “He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now. He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes” (1 John 2:9-11).
We are to love our neighbor as well! In fact, it is one of the foundational commands of God! “And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’” (Mark 12:31; cf. Leviticus 19:18). The word that the Holy Spirit used to illustrate this concept is the Greek agapa?, which is defined as: “a love in the moral sense.” Thayer adds, “wish well to; regard the welfare of.” It is a high bar that all Christians are to clear, to elevate themselves in the eyes of God. “For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:46-48).
In fact, that is why Jesus stated in that same context in Matthew 5, “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:44-45). This is certainly not what is practiced in the world. It is something that has always been strange and foreign to the ungodly. But, it is enjoined upon anyone who desires to be like God.
Which leads us to the final concept of love which we want to examine from scripture. “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:14-17). God’s love for man is the single most influential example in teaching us that grand principle.
For example, He loved us first, regardless of our own inclinations or actions. “We love Him because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). The same selfless love is found in the actions of the Son. “For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him” (Romans 5:6-9).
Such unselfish love, that the Father did not withhold His only Son, serves as our example in all of our relationships with God and man. “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another” ( 1 John 4:7-11).
Love defines us as God’s children. It is the “greatest” thing (cf. 1 Corinthians 13:13). It is to be the single attribute for the Christian which defines and informs his life. “And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:2). That is how great and important LOVE is!
