Loving Others

Today we look at the essential follow-up to loving God, which is loving others. At Trinity Church, we talk about loving others almost as much as we talk about loving God. We can summarize the teaching of Jesus found in Matthew 22:37-40 in four words: Love God, Love Others. All of Scripture is based upon these two foundational loves. Francis Chan writes,

“Lukewarm people love others but do not seek to love others as much as they love themselves. Their love of others is typically focused on those who love them in return, like family, friends, and other people they know and connect with. There is little love left over for those who cannot love them back, much less for those who intentionally slight them, whose kids are better athletes than theirs, or with whom conversations are awkward or uncomfortable. Their love is highly conditional and very selective, and generally comes with strings attached.” (Crazy Love, p. 73)

When it comes to loving others we really try to keep our distance because loving people is messy. Our lives are filled with mess and we do our best to try and minimize the mess. Loving people is difficult and so we end up doing our best to love others from a distance, all the while making excuses about why we can’t be more involved.

The example of love that we are to emulate toward others is the love that Christ has given to us. We are to love others because it is the defining characteristic of someone who is in love with Jesus. In John 13:35, Jesus says love is the identifying characteristic of His disciples. As we live out our lives using the gifting that God has given us, if our motive is not love, it is worthless (1 Corinthians 13:1-3). Loving God and loving others is not a motto but the identity of those who are in love with Jesus.