What is Love all about? Love in its purest form is an ACTION word! Love is something that is spiritually and physically portrayed from the one loving to those that receive it and/or reject the same.
Love as defined by Webster’s Dictionary is: strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties; affection based on admiration, benevolence, or common interests.
But the Love that I would like to write about is based on the Purest Form of Love, the Love of God “YHWH” and the Love of His Only Begotten Son Jesus for mankind.
We read in St. John 15:13, Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Who have you or I laid-down our life for today? Are we the type of person that insists on having our way regardless to who it may ill affect? Or, are we the type that is willing to be satisfied from our-self, not having our own way, Proverbs 14:14? Are we the type that seeks the well-being of others, preferring them above our-self?, Romans 12:10?
Love seeketh not her own, 1st Corinthians 13 and is satisfied from herself, Proverbs 14:14.
King Solomon in Proverbs 17:9 wrote, "He that covereth a transgression seeketh love; but he that repeateth a matter separateth very friends"
A person that displays the True Love of God “YHWH” is willing to look past the short-comings of others; and does not maliciously disclose the same to others because a whisperer separateth chief friends, Proverbs 15:28.
In St. Matthew 19:19 in part we read, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."
Everyone that loves themselves endeavors not to say or do anything that will cause them-self to look less than they want others to see them as or that will cause their-self harm. Therefore, according to the Written Word of God “YHWH” the Bible, we should do the same for one another.
The Apostle James in James 2:8-9 wrote, "If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: *But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors."
Royalty denotes the Highest Order of Position therefore, to love our neighbor as our self is the ultimate display of love.
In 1st Thessalonians 5:6-8 the Apostle Paul wrote, "Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. *For they that sleep, sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. **But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation."
The heart is where love is generated; one could also say that a Breastplate of Righteousness, as found in Ephesians 6:14, could be considered the same as a Breastplate of Love because Righteousness is nothing less than Right-Living according to the Written Word of God, the Bible.
In other words, loving your neighbor as yourself is a Right thing to do in Word and in Deed.
The Apostle Paul in 1st Thessalonians 4:9 wrote, "But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another."
Are we truly taught by God “God’s Holy Written Word the Bible” or are we holding the traditions of mankind, to do unto others be for they do unto you?
Love behaves in a proper manner and is not unseemly; in other words, love acts in good taste or Biblically established standards, 1st Corinthians 13.
One Scripture states that we are knit together in Love, Colossians 2:2. Being knit together means that we are bound together in the Fabric of Christ Jesus. If therefore we are knit together in Jesus, to hurt or not love others in a Godly manner is to not only hurt the other person but our own-selves and Jesus too.
In 2nd Timothy 1:6-7 the Apostle Paul wrote, "Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands. *For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."
In, through and by the Precious Shed Blood of Jesus by the Power of the Holy Ghost, God “YHWH” has bestowed upon the Saints His Own Righteous Nature that we should be able to EASILY display His Love to one another. Anything less is to deny the Love of God bestowed upon us. True Love is a Power that cannot be defeated because it is Godly.
Love is kind, 1st Corinthians 13. Kindness, like Mercy and Grace, are given even though it may not be deserved.
The Apostle Paul in Ephesians 5:1-2 wrote, "Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; *And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour."
As a child, did you ever play a game called, “Follow the Leader?” In this game, every participant was required to do exactly as their leader did or they would be disqualified from further participation in the game.
To love one another is to be a follower of God and this is no game; it’s as real as it gets therefore, we need to make sure that we keep our eyes on Jesus through His Holy Written Word the Bible and do as He said and did.
Love beareth all things and is kind; Love endureth all things, 1st Corinthians 13. Sometimes, love is difficult but when love is hard to give, when given, it is a greater form of love.
In Romans 13:10 the Apostle Paul wrote, "Love worketh no ill to his neighbour:" therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
If we love our neighbor as God intended for us to do, we will obey the Commandments of God “YHWH.” Because all too many people are not reading the Bible today but you can be sure that they are Reading or watching you.
Therefore, if the Light that is in us is darkness, how great is that darkness, St. Matthew 6:23. In other words, if the love that we display is not according to Scripture and we ill treat our neighbor; our neighbor may think that because we are or profess to be Christians then, there must be something dead wrong with our Christianity or profession thereof.
Love thinketh no evil, 1st Corinthians 13. To think evil or ill of our neighbor is to think ill of Jesus because He died for them too and He wants us to Love our neighbor into Him.
The Apostle Paul in Romans 12:9 in part wrote, "Let love be without dissimulation" (a false appearance).
To display a false appearance of love is to be a hypocrite. The Prophet Job said that the Soul of the hypocrite will be taken away or Eternally Lost, Job 27:8. Therefore, it behooves us to maintain Perfect Love not only for one another but for our neighbor and our enemy too.
In 2nd John 1:6 the Apostle John wrote, "And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it."
According to the writings of King Solomon, there is nothing new under the sun Ecclesiastes 1:9, therefore, the Commandment to Love one another as Christ Love us still stands True for us today.
The Apostle John in 1st John 5:1-3 wrote, "Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him. *By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. *For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous."
How can we truly say that we Love God “YHWH” if we do not show Godly Love towards one another? If we say that we Love God “YHWH” and do not observe and do those things that He has commanded us to do, we have made ourselves a liar and the Truth is not in us.
In 1st John 4:7-17 the Apostle John wrote, "Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. *He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. *In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. *Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation “Atonement” for our sins. **Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. *No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. *Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. *And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. *Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. *And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.*Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world."
If the Saints would judge themselves by the Written Word of God, the Bible they will not stand in Judgment when Jesus returns to claim His own unto Himself, 1st Corinthians 11:31.
The Saints Boldness in the Day of Judgment comes from their complete obedience to the Word of the Lord. Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego experienced this kind of Victory in being Bold for the Word of the Lord.
Daniel was delivered from the power of a den of lions and those other Hebrew boys were delivered from the Power of the Fire. You can read about it in the third chapter of the Book of Daniel.
Saints, we too can have that kind of Boldness in the Day that Jesus returns in the Clouds of Glory it if we have been Borne Again in, through and by the Precious Shed Blood of Jesus and we follow on to Know and Serve Him in Spirit and in Truth and in Love.
The Apostle John in 1st John 3:18 wrote, "My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth."
If we say that we Love God and do not that which is Truth, by not showing forth the Love of God to ALL mankind, we are a Liar and the Truth in not in us.
In 1st John 2:1-6 the Apostle John wrote, "My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: *And he is the propitiation “Atonement” for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. *And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. **He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. **But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. *He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked."
Love is a Commandment of God “YHWH” because we are Commanded to live by Every Word that Proceedeth out of the Mouth of God St. Matthew 4:4.
I hear so many people say that the Saints cannot be Perfect but all thought out the Bible I read where the Written Word of the Lord says that the Saints can be perfect. One way that we can show that Perfection is by obeying the Written Word of the Lord in Loving our neighbour as yourself.
Love believeth all things; Love rejoiceth in the truth, 1st Corinthians 13. Believe this, the Written Word of God, the Bible is True and that the Saints of God are Commanded to Live by Every Word in it.
The Apostle Paul in Ephesians 4:15-16 wrote, "But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: *From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love."
The Saints are Built-up in Jesus as they demonstrate the True Love of God to one another and to others too. In other words, the Saints are Strengthened in showing forth Love to ALL mankind as unto God “YHWH” and to His Holy and Righteous Son Jesus.
In Philippians 2:1-2 the Apostle Paul wrote, "If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, *Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind."
The True Saints of God greatly desire to fulfill the Joy of the Lord by being like Jesus in showing forth Pure Love even when it is not deserved.
While we were yet sinners Jesus died for our sins, Romans 5:8. Can we afford to do any less for whosoever? Love never fails, 1st Corinthians 13, and we as Saints of the Most High God cannot afford to miss the Mark and Fail to Love one another as Jesus first Loved us.
In closing, to quote an old Hymn, “The Love of God is Greater far than any tongue or pen can tell.” This is the kind of Love that we who are called Saints are to possess and display in our daily lives. May the Heavenly Father richly bless and keep you as you follow on to know and serve Him in Spirit and in Truth.
Your Faithful Servant in the Lord ~
Derwood A. Stewart, Minister
House of Prayer Sabbath Ministries
Comments or Questions? Email Us: hope@preachersteacher.org
