Good morning. 18th century French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau didn’t struggle much with what we call “self-esteem”. His contemporary, historian Paul Johnson, wrote of his “over-powering egoism”. Rousseau was a self-described “best friend of all mankind.” He once said, “The person who can love me as I love all others is yet to be born. There is none other with such a talent for love.” Historian Johnson pointed out that although Rousseau proclaimed this great love for all humanity, he had an odd way of showing it, since he had a strong tendency to argue with virtually everyone around him and ridicule as many as possible. Perhaps Mr. Rousseau didn’t quite understand the meaning of love. Or perhaps his feelings were more like his fellow philosopher Liu Van Pelt who said, “I love mankind, it’s people I can’t stand.”
I think it is very true that love is easy to celebrate but much more difficult to consistently live. To live love with the same intensity with which we speak of it, sing of it, and celebrate it, we need an excellent model to follow. Fortunately, God, in all His wisdom, has given us that model in the person of the Son, Jesus Christ.
Love is the ultimate test of character. I am not at this moment speaking those who are easy to love, but of the opposite. As Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? The Lord’s point at that moment in His “Sermon on the Mount” was that the command of God to His people is to love powerfully and perfectly, even as He loves us. Love as a test of Christian character is to find a way to love those who annoy you, betray you, disappoint you, even those who infuriate you. God loves them all, and so must we.
The fruit of the Spirit is described in Galatians 5:22-23: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. When love is perfectly present it is manifest in all of these examples of fruit of the Holy Spirit. When such love was present, there is no need for law. When such love is present there is no need for the Mosaic Law which defined life for the Jews of Jesus’ day: but also there would be no need for laws that govern our world today. If there would be perfect love, people would naturally behave righteously toward one another. That condition would seem to me to be…rare.
There was a lawyer who intended to trick Jesus by asking Him “What is the greatest commandment in the Law? Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:35-39
#1: Love God with all you’ve got.
#2: Love each other personally and powerfully.
Simple, right? As was mentioned above, it is quite simple when the other person is lovable. But the truth is that it is very difficult indeed when other people are being difficult. And as for that “love God with all of you” that sounds great in principle, but we all know that we stray from that principle when temptation finds its way into our hearts and minds.
To love as we are commanded needs that perfect model of love, so let’s consider Jesus.
When he fed the thousands were there some who didn’t deserve it? I am sure there were, but Jesus didn’t ask questions, He simply loved them as He fed them.
When Jesus healed people were there some whose own actions may have led to their unfortunate situation? I am sure there were, but Jesus didn’t ask questions, He simply loved them as He healed them.
When Jesus forgave people were there some who didn’t deserve His grace? I am sure there were, but Jesus didn’t ask questions, He simply loved them as He forgave them.
You may have heard of the idea of acting first and asking questions later. When it comes to the love of Jesus, He loved first, and the questions didn’t matter.
Jesus is our model, our mirror, of love. When it comes to love, we are to mirror Christ Jesus. He is our model of love even as He is our Savior, and as long as we reflect His love, we’ve nothing to worry about.
Vern