Is Love Your Greatest Motivation?
Many people say that they will do almost anything and everything for the people they love. Are you one of them? Is love your greatest motivation for your actions? What about those who kill themselves or others for love?
Bible Verse: 2 Corinthians 5:14a
“For the love of Christ compels us.”
What Love Can Do
There is no doubt that John Denver is one of the greatest singers of all time. He started his singing career in the 1970s with folk music. Four years later, he became one of America’s best-selling performers.
If you are a John Denver fan, you must be familiar with his songs which are mostly about love. There’s “Perhaps Love,” “Falling Out of Love,” “Is it Love,” “Love is Everywhere,” and “Love Again” just to name a few.
I think it’s interesting that John Denver knew that “love is the greatest motivation to bring peace to this world.” I don’t know if he was born again or not because he kept repeating that showing love can bring peace to this world. But as good as that may sound, retribution does not bring peace.
God Demonstrated True Love
Is everyone capable of love? We’re all created in the image of God and love is one of God’s eternal characters. So yes, we all know how to love. The more important question is, can we love with the kind of love that God has for us? Probably not! We may not even know what love is according to God’s definition.
Our problem is God has already defined what love is, which is impossible to imitate without His help. We cannot love the same way God does without Him enabling us. And it takes humility on our part to be able to do it. Unless we humble ourselves before God and admit our inability to love like Him, we are not able to love like Him.
That was part of the reason why Jesus came to earth to die and rise again. We were all bound to be separated from God for all eternity because of sin. But God loves us so much that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). Jesus did not only give us the commandment to love, He showed us how to do it (John 13:34).
Experiencing the Love of God
Since Christians have experienced that love, God tells us to go live like that love is real and true. As 2 Corinthians 5:15 implies, we can only live like it is real and true by living for God. This includes glorifying God in everything we do (1 Corinthians 10:31).
Another way of showing our love for God is by obeying His Word and commandments (John 14:15). Just to get things straight, we don’t obey God so that He will love us. Rather, we obey God because we love Him. As one Bible teacher said, “When we love, we obey.” Love should be our greatest motivation to obey God and His commandments.
Do you ever find it difficult to obey God? You should not because God’s commandments are not burdensome (1 John 5:3
How well do we know God’s instructions for our life? How often do we worship and learn what His Word says? Have we all experienced God’s love and received His free gift of salvation? If not, why not ask Him for it now?
Loving Others As God Loves Us
If we are going to live out His Word, because it is the Truth, shouldn’t we be loving others as Matthew 22:37-39 and Luke 10:27 says?
When the Pharisees heard that Jesus has silenced the Sadducees, they came to Him to test Him. They asked Jesus which is the most important commandment in the Law of Moses. In reply, Jesus told them of the first and greatest commandment “to love the Lord with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength.”
But He did not stop there. Jesus went on to say that the second commandment is “to love your neighbor as yourself.” First of all, I do not know of anyone who does not love himself/herself. People take really good care of themselves because they love themselves. We exercise and practice a healthy lifestyle because we love ourselves.
If it’s love that motivates us to do all these things for ourselves, love should also motivate us to want others to be saved. If you love your neighbor as yourself, you wouldn’t want them to depart from this earth without Christ, right?
Loving Others Can be Uncomfortable
Loving others can take many different forms but it can be very difficult or uncomfortable. I know many Christians that do not know how or even want to give the Gospel to other people. If they don’t get saved, they will spend eternity in hell, do you want that blood on your hands (Ezekiel 3:18)?
I get it; people can be hostile because they don’t want to acknowledge their sinfulness. Your closest friends might hate you; they may even cut ties with you once you start telling them their need for Jesus. But it is more loving to tell someone the good news even when they do not like it than to let them be lost knowing that God could save them.
Jesus died to save all sinners. That includes the people you know. Are you willing to kill your selfish desires to bring others to Jesus? Do you love them enough to share what Christ has done on the cross to save them from sin?
Final Thoughts
God sacrificed His Son so that we do not have to suffer eternal torment in hell. Christ left His throne in heaven. He humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross (Philippians 2:6-8). God did not have to do any of these but He did. Jesus almost couldn’t bear the thought of being separated from His Father, causing Him to cry in anguish in the Garden of Gethsemane.
But Jesus endured the cross because He knew that His sacrifice would mean reconciliation between God and man (2 Corinthians 5:18-19). Love is God’s greatest motivation for sending His only son to suffer and die for us. Our Lord gave His life to be the ultimate sacrifice for sin so that we might live with Him for all eternity.
It’s all about love. Love should be the greatest motivation for Christians to obey God and to get others to trust in Jesus as their Savior.
Love requires sacrifice. How much are you willing to sacrifice for God and others?
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Recommended Resource:
The Essential Commandment: A Disciple’s Guide to Loving God and Others by Greg Ogden
Is it really possible to live out the Great Commandment? Jesus thinks it is. And with Jesus, Ogden has found, it is possible–and essential.
In this practical, in-depth handbook, Ogden draws from his years of pastoral experience training and discipling others to help us truly be changed by Christ into people who love God and love others with all that we are.
Following the format of his bestselling Discipleship Essentials, each chapter includes:
- a core truth
- a memory verse
- an inductive Bible study
- reading on one aspect of the Great Commandment
Thoughtful questions will also help you examine your heart and life and move you to open yourself to God’s transforming work. Above all, Ogden helps you see that the Great Commandment is actually a great invitation to join God in bringing His kingdom to earth.
And as you learn to do so, you’ll find that the greatest commandment leads to the greatest life possible.