Articles
Love, Demonstrated
When Jesus was once asked what the greatest commandment was, He said, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets” (Matt. 22:37-40). Of course, He was correct, for even the Ten Commandments illustrate that every command was either a demonstration of our love for God or a demonstration of our love for our fellow man.
And God was absolutely serious about demonstrating this love, more than just empty verbalization of love. He also commanded His people, “You shall not afflict any widow or fatherless child. If you afflict them in any way, and they cry at all to Me, I will surely hear their cry; and My wrath will become hot, and I will kill you with the sword; your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless” (Exod. 22:22-24). God wanted the people to care about the downtrodden, and promised anyone who mistreated a widow or orphan that their families would know the pain of being one if you oppressed one! He wanted them to know He was serious about this matter!
To illustrate this, consider the fact that Israel eventually got to the point God said of them, “they sell the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of sandals. They pant after the dust of the earth which is on the head of the poor, and pervert the way of the humble” (Amos 2:6, 7). They oppressed the poor, and [if that wasn't bad enough] desired even the dust that rested on their heads; they cared more for the dirt than they did the person! They would “tread down the poor and take grain taxes from him” (Amos 5:11); they ensured the poor stayed poor, and helped them be even poorer! So little did they care for their own poor that it was said they were those “Who oppress the poor, who crush the needy, who say to your husbands, ‘Bring wine, let us drink!’” (Amos 4:1). They oppressed the poor and then simultaneously celebrated their luxuries achieved by that oppression!
And what did God think of this? What was His response? “I will not turn away its punishment” (Amos 2:6), “He will take you away with fishhooks, and your posterity with fishhooks” (Amos 4:2), and, “Therefore I will send you into captivity beyond Damascus” (Amos 5:27). His promise to repay in kind to those who oppressed the downtrodden was being fulfilled. He was serious!
And though some had taken the command to love one's neighbor (cf. Lev. 19:18) and twisted it into “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” (Matt. 5:43), such was not an acceptable translation or interpretation of His commands. Jesus corrected this by commanding, “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” (Matt. 5:44). You see, God has always wanted us to love all men.
And lest someone should misunderstand, God clarifies who my “neighbor” is, too. Once, a man repeated those two commandments [love the Lord and love one's neighbor] as the greatest, but then, “he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbor?’” (Luke 10:25-29). Jesus then told the story of the Good Samaritan, where a man was beaten and left for dead on the side of the road, and a priest and Levite each came upon the man at different times, yet each passed by on the other side and did nothing for him; a Samaritan, whom the Jews counted equal to dogs, was the one who stopped and helped the man and did much for him (Luke 10:30-35). Concluding the story, Jesus then asked the man, “So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?” And the man rightly answered, “He who showed mercy on him,” and Jesus replied, “Go and do likewise” (Luke 10:36, 37). Though the man tried to justify his selective demonstration of love, Jesus would not help in his self-justification; Jesus made it clear that the demonstration of love has no boundaries or restrictions.
This lesson is one that should not be lost on us in the modern era, either. In times past in our own country, there have been certain ethnic groups that were not treated equally and were, in fact, treated worse than the Jews treated the Samaritans. Some still are. And while the political and social rhetoric has increased lately to where some of those old thoughts and feelings have been resurrected, Christians must not contribute to the increase in hate, or be guilty of selectively demonstrating our love; we must not be like the man who asked Jesus “And who is my neighbor?” when we really know all along, and then try to justify ourselves when we don't love everyone. God knows, God is not deceived, and God will judge.
Love is not something we can decide to selectively demonstrate; either we love all or we don't love at all, and Jesus illustrated that in the story of the Good Samaritan. But He also showed us that love is more than mere words. The Samaritan didn't just look on this man with compassion when he saw him; he acted. He did something about the situation by bandaging his wounds, setting him on his own animal and taking him to an inn to recover, and promising to take care of whatever needs the man had — looking for nothing in return and with no limitations. Everything the Samaritan did was selfless and compassionate — love, demonstrated.
But isn't that exactly what God demands of all of us? Yes, it is! John asks, rhetorically, “But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?” (1 John 3:17) — and this, right after he had said, “By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren” (1 John 3:16). He would follow that by admonishing us all, “My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth” (1 John 3:18). In other words, let's not just talk about our love; let us demonstrate it in actual deeds! Jesus didn't come to this earth just to talk about how much He loved us; He demonstrated it by the ultimate sacrifice of Himself on the cross (Eph. 5:2). Can we do anything less than He did?
As people of God and Christ, let us demonstrate love for one another, for our neighbors, and even for our enemies. It is love for one another — and to the degree Jesus loved us — that we show the world we are His disciples (John 13:34, 35); it is love of our neighbor and even our enemies [i.e., everyone] that shows the world we are like God, who “so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son” (John 3:16). We don't need any more hatred in this world, and it certainly should not be coming from the minds or mouths of ones who wear the name of Christ!
Start with your words; make sure what comes out of your mouth is truly “speaking the truth in love” (Eph. 4:15) and “what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers” (Eph. 4:29). Then, make sure deeds and the demonstration of love back up those words. The world will not believe our words of love unless and until they see the demonstration of love in our deeds.
Brethren, let your light so shine! The world is watching! —— Steven Harper
