The Greatest Lover Ever

Love means different things to different people; and people have always expressed their love based on the way they understand it. And until we understand its true meaning, we can never give the best of it.

What is love?
Love has different definitions. One of those definitions is that love is an intense feeling of tender affection and compassion toward a person. It is also defined to mean somebody who is loved romantically or sexually. Besides, it is also seen as something that elicits deep interest and enthusiasm in somebody. However, love is not just a feeling; it is a practical thing that involves you having to demonstrate what you feel about a person.

Before we understand what true love is, let us also take a look at some Greek terms which describe some types of love. They are: 1.Agape Love: This is selfless, caring and concerned love. 2. Philos: It is a ‘give and take’ relationship based on equal friendship from two people. It is more of a symbiotic affair where no one is gaining at the expense of the other. 3. Libido: This involves physical intimacy and sexual attraction. It is based purely on deriving sexual gratification. 4. Ludus: It is simply playful, light and pleasant relationship. 5. Eros: It is romantic and passionate attraction between two persons and involves sexual desire and pleasure.

When Jesus Christ came, he showed us the Agape love, which is the altruistic, sacrificial and selfless love. He loved us without expecting anything from us in return. We sacrificed his life to show to us that he is the best lover we could ever have. He left his exalted position in heaven and came to dwell with us on this corrupt earth. He felt our infirmities; he shared our poverty, he tasted our pains and he was punished for our sins. No lover would ever take all that for the sake of love where he stands to gain nothing. But Jesus Christ endured all the insults and public humiliation because he thought of our best. He is the greatest lover the world has ever known. Nobody would ever show a true, sacrificial, undiluted and altruistic love like Jesus did.

Some have tried to imitate the love of Christ, but withdrew when the challenges became too much to bear. Some gave love only for selfish reasons; they gave because they expected something in return. Some also gave because of lust or sexual attraction. Only Jesus can truly be seen as the selfless lover.

How Does God React To Our Sins?

God loves us and wants to keep us to himself, making sure we are not contaminated but remain pure before him. He reacts when we are defiled by sin because he is righteous and cannot put up with unrighteousness. When we therefore choose to dwell in sin, he reacts negatively toward our decision.

Some of the negative emotions God shows toward our sin include:
1.He is angry: God can be angry when we choose to be unreasonable and provoke him by our actions. We are told that when the Israelites grumbled before him and doubted his capabilities, he became angry and sent down his fire against them (Psalm 78:19-21). John 3:36 says that anyone who refuses to believe in Jesus Christ shall not see life but the anger of God.
2.He hates sin: Sin is repugnant to God; he is righteous and cannot condone sin. God hates anything that constitutes a sin (Psalm 5:5; Proverbs 6:16-19). Living in sin means provoking Gods hatred. He can never love sin, neither can he stand the sight of it.
3.He punishes sin: God does not only hate sin, he also punishes it. Several times in the bible we are told how the Israelites were punished because of their disobedience to God. When Adam and Eve sinned against God they were punished (Gen 3:15-19; Isaiah 3:11-26; Amos 3:2)

However, God in his loving kindness still handles our sin in a positive way by:

1.Forgiving sin: He forgives the sin of those who genuinely repent, because he is a merciful God Ex 34:6-71 John 1:9
2.Removing sin: He also removes our sins and makes us justified to stand before his throne of grace (Psalm 103:8-12)
3.Putting sin behind his back: He also forgives our sins and puts them behind his back and completely forgets them when we repent from them (Isaiah 38:17)
4.By casting away our sins: when God forgives us our sins he casts them totally away into a place where he would never remember them any more. (Maiah 7:19)
5.By blotting out our sins: To blot out our sins is to hide them away completely from God’s sight. When we are forgiven, the original sins we committed no longer stare at us in the face; they are taken away from us (Isaiah 44:22)
6.By forgetting our sins: When he forgives us, he does not dwell on our past records or life; they are totally forgotten. (Jer. 31:34)
7.By allowing his son Jesus Christ to die for us: In our fallen and sinful state, he showed us love by allowing his son Jesus Christ to die for us even when we do not merit it. That action in itself shows how great the love and mercy he has for us are. (John 3:16; Romans 5:8; 1 John 4:10)

We should therefore see God as a worthy father who shows us his love, mercy, kindness and forgiveness, but who would at the same time punish sins and displays his anger if we choose to live a life that does not please him.

Who Should We Love?

Love is one of ingredients that keep the world moving: without it there would be lots of hate, prejudice, murder, oppression, victimization, etc. But as believers there is a standard set for us by our Lord Jesus Christ, which we must follow religiously if we’re to be like him.

Jesus instructed us to love certain categories of people in order to show to the world that we are his true disciples.

1.Love God: According to Jesus Christ, the first and greatest commandment is that we should love God with our heart, soul and mind (Matt 22:37-38; Mark 12:29-30). The love for God should supersede that which we have for any other person or being, because he deserves the number one place in our hearts.

2.Our neighbours: Jesus also said that next to loving God is that we should love our neighbours as ourselves (Matt 22:39-40; Mark 12-31). Why should we love our neighbours next to God? It is because if we love our neighbours we would not sin against them (Rom 13:9).

3.Strangers: Both the Old and New Testaments admonish us to love strangers because we were strangers, we are going to be stranger one day, and because there are rewards for loving them. (Lev. 19:34; Dut 10:19, Heb 13:2)

4.All men: The word of God advises us to do good to all men, especially those who are of the household of faith (believers). Doing good is not implying we should be moralistic; rather it is saying we should do good to them out of a heart of love. The good deeds should be motivated by true love for them (Gen. 6:10)

5.Our enemies: Jesus Christ also made it clear we should not limit ourselves to loving only those who love us and hating those who hate us, just like the pagans do. Rather he instructed us to “love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you…“(Matt 5:43-48, Rom. 12:20-21, Ex. 32:4-5, Prov. 25:21-22).

We must therefore be able to see everybody just the same way our Lord Jesus sees them, and treat them the way he expects us to treat them. We should be lavish in giving out love because it is one of those attributes that differentiate us from pagans. When we love generously we show that we belong to Christ and that lives in us