John 13:34-35
Jesus Teaches about Love
34"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
Luke 6:27-36
Love for Enemies
27 “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29 If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. 30 Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.
32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. 35 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
Matthew 22:34-40
The Greatest Commandments are all about Love
34Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question:
36"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" 37Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
I think we love one way and Jesus LOVES in a different way...He taught and still teaches, so much about Love and forgiveness to others...He wants us to love one another...He wants us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves...His LOVE is about and for God and people...He knows how to LOVE His enemies...
I think of love (and when we use the word love) as a long term commitment...But the way we love on earth, is not always long term...When we love things (anything), we tend to love those things we want and desire...We see something that we think is pleasing and desiring, so we may think we would like or love to have that or own that...This kind of love can fade, and often fades quickly...I think there are similarities in the way man loves material things -and can be a little bit compared to how we love others...When we think about love in terms of people, we tend to love others that are like us, who we think will meet the desires and the needs we have, and who will comfort and help us...Maybe we loved a teacher, for teaching us many things...We loved them, partly because what we learned from them -they helped us...Our love seems to be selfish in the sense that we love others to satisfy something in us and in our own personal needs and wants...Some believe that love is how we feel for someone...And if we believe that love is dependent on how we feel for another, then we must also believe and know that many feelings come and go -feelings can even change everyday...If a friend we (thought) we love, starts changing and no longer believes in all the things we believe, we may become a little negative towards them...We can feel less love for them...So love must be more than feelings...And love can be be more intense at times, and less intense at time...If we believe that love is just the intense passion we felt for those when we are very young, we might be saddened and lose love, as we age, and find out that what we feel and felt as a young adult, is a little different feeling than how we feel, when we are in our sixties, seventies and eighties...In fact, when we look into the mirror forty or fifty years later, we actually see how things have changed...We have changed, and sometimes our love has changed for others, when we compare it to what we thought and felt when we were much younger...
Also, love is more than just sharing common interests...When our interests change, and we change, then our love would change...When those we love get new interests, that we do not like or want to share, then our love would change...
This is not the way Jesus thinks (I do not think) about Love, after you read the gospels...For Him Love is eternal (and so much-much more than a long term commitment)...In Him telling us about the two Greatest Commandments, we are to love God, and we are to love people (our neighbor)...Jesus treasured Love, but He did not treasure any material thing or wealth...He wants our Love for others to be a unique Love and does not even compare to material things of this world (think of His teachings on money, material things, wealth, and what He thinks are the real treasures in life)...He wants us to Love everyone...He wants us even to Love our enemies...His Love is not selfish (like our love)...His Love is much more than feelings, and how we feel...He gives His Love to all people...When we realize that He died not only for the ones who loved Him, but for all men, then (I think) we see how His Love is different...Or to say it another way, He did not pick out the ones who only loved Him and die for them...Nor did He pick out the ones He only knew and Loved and die only for them...He died for everyone...He gives His Love to sinners...His Love never stops...His Love is never ending...His Love is eternal...Out of His Love, He sent His Son to save us...His Love bore the cost of His Son's life...So He Love's us, not matter what...Out of His Love, we are forgiven no matter what...He Loves you when you are nineteen and strong and vibrant....And He Loves you when you are ninety and a little feeble...His Love for us is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow...