But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.
Summary: Love, the poet says, is a ‘many splendored thing.’ Yet when it comes to describing what those ‘splendors’ are, we sometimes get stuck.
One thing we can be fairly confident of when we focus on Paul’s advice to Timothy is that he wasn’t suggesting Timothy pursue romantic love.
Sometimes, of course, it is the other way around. Romantic love pursues the man! Many a young pastor has discovered that they are more popular with the fair sex than they could have imagined. Sometimes even older ones fall victim to this trap. (Satan isn’t proud when it comes to subverting God’s church. There is nothing he will not stoop to.)
The kind of “love” Paul recommends pursuing is quite different.
When we talk about the love Paul is referring to, it is easy to ‘zone out’ and let our minds wander to some other topic. Godly love can sound ‘churchy’ and maybe even a bit stuffy. After all, we are talking about a God who has been around a long, long time and who in ancient times was responsible for plagues, people dying in battle, and sending Jesus to the cross.
Maybe if we substitute “nice” for the word “love,” God will let us get by with that.
The word Paul actually used is, of course, the Greek word “agapē.” Agapē is often referred to as “godly love” to set it apart from other forms of love. It includes affection but runs very deep in terms of being willing to make sacrifices for the one you love.
One way to think of agapē is as a kind of ‘selfless love.’
This makes sense when we consider the two Great Commandments as Jesus summarized them.* The first is to love God above all else, including yourself. This means that we put God’s will above our own. Interestingly, putting God first guarantees our thoughts and actions will reflect his love because “God is love” (1 John 4:8).
The second Great Commandment does something similar. It simply says we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. Here again we sacrifice putting ourselves first so that we can treat our neighbors as God would have them treated.
Application: Love well.
Food for Thought: What does loving our neighbor look like?
* Matthew 22:37-40
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I think Jesus answered this question directly. And I know I can’t do better than Him.
Luke 10: 25 – 37: On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
26“What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
27He answered, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ c ; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
28“You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
29But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35The next day he took out two denarii e and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’
36“Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
37The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
Very good.
Thank you, Rich!
That is a great parable that we can’t hear enough!
What does loving our neighbor look like?
In Mark 12:31, Jesus tells us we are to love our neighbors as ourselves. As we extend His love to those around us, whether they are our best friends or people nearby who we rarely talk with, we will begin Seeing and helping others despite what is going on in our lives. We will find ourselves trusting God to take care of our problems as He ministers to someone else, helping them with their problems is what loving our neighbor looks like.
God cannot, will not be confined. John 3:30, He must increase in while I must decrease.
As we grow in our love for God we will find ourselves loving others far more than before, and in submission to His will, allowing God to work through us, we will give their needs priority over our own. They will become big as we make ourselves small.
Thank you, Ron!
Less of me,
More of Jesus!
Amen!
When I was reading about those who fall victim to this trap of romantic love im reminded that the strongest man and the smartest man in the bible both fell for the same trap.