The Highest Goal

A lawyer tested the Lord Jesus Christ saying, “Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus quoting from the Old Testament (Deut. 6:5) said unto him, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Matt. 22:35-40 KJV).

But what is love?

Love is an emotion that defies description in words, something that causes us to move into action to do something good.

God (Jesus Christ) commands us to love God first and, second, to love our neighbor as ourselves.

In the end, this really means that we should love everybody, even our enemies. Indeed, Jesus Christ said, “Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you” (Luke 6:27-28 KJV).

Why did Jesus say, “love your enemies?” Because in those days, the Jewish people hate the Romans - - their conqueror. However, with the passage of time, some Romans, one of significant influence and power being Emperor Constantine, was Christianized. He decreed that the official religion of the Roman Empire was Christianity. Hence, was born the Roman Catholic Church or what we call Catolico Romano. These Romans learned to love the Christians and vice versa.

Jewish and non-Jewish (or Gentiles) are all God’s children through Faith in Jesus Christ. “So you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have been made like him. There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female. For you are all Christians - - you are one in Christ Jesus and now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and now all the promises God gave to him belong to you” (Galatians 3:26-29 NLT). When the Old Testament was written, the Roman Empire was not yet in power. So, there were no Roman Catholics, no protestants and the numerous religions denominations that exist today. It was only during New Testament times that believers of God and His Son Jesus Christ designated themselves by their denominational names. But their common denomination is CHRIST. Meaning, all believe in Christ as the only begotten Son of God. Those religions who have other beliefs are called, Anti-Christ. But whether, Jewish or Greeks or Gentiles, Romans or not, whatever be their nationality, what is important is they believe in Christ as the Son of God. These are all Christians, the heirs of Abraham.

We have also our enemies. The prophet Micah said, “a man’s enemy are the men of his own house” (Micah 7:6). That is why some married couple end up in divorce. They simply can’t love their closest neighbor. When it should be the other way around. The wife should be the best friend of the husband. The trouble with some husbands is that they have other or many best friends which converts their spouse into their worst enemy, thus ending in divorce, or it is the other way around: the wife has other best friends also. For as long as we live, we will have enemies. Plenty of them. Let us learn from David when in the day that the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of King Saul. He said: “I will love thee, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from my enemies” (Ps. 18:1-3 KJV). David continued: “He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were too strong for me…; he delivered me, because he delighted in me (vs. 17, 19) he delivered me from mine enemies: yea, thou liftest me up above those that rise up against me: thou hast delivered me from the violent man” (vs. 48 KJV). In one sentence, LOVE the LORD as he commands, then He will deliver us from all our enemies. He is stronger than our strongest enemy. If we love the LORD as he commanded, and our neighbor as ourselves, we can overcome all our enemies, including our enemies in our own house! David said, “Thou wilt show me the path of life: in thy presence is fullness of joy; at the right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16:11 KJV).

A command has to be followed whether we like it or not. Failure or refusal to do so is disobedience with consequential penalty.

Micha’s prophetic statement “a man’s enemy are the men of his own house has been paraphrased by our Lord Jesus during New Testament times in this manner: “And a man’s foes shall be them of his own household” (Matt. 10:36 KJV). In our modern way of saying things, this is how Micah conveyed his prophetic message: “Don’t trust anyone - - not your best friend or even your wife! For the son despises his father. The daughter defies her mother. The daughter-in-law defies her mother-in-law. Your enemies will be right in your own household” (Micah 7:5-6 NLT). I personally believe that the word “household” is to be understood in its generic meaning, not only literal. So, it may mean in your own group or organization. Because who else knows your secret but the one who knows you very well? Who knows us very well? Our best friend, of course.

In government or politics, Gov. Chavit Singson testified against Pres. Erap Estrada, his close friend. Speaker De Venecia a close friend for a while of Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo during her Administration, offered to testify against the latter, and this goes on in our government today!

Kinds of Love	Its Characteristics
1. EROS – sexual love 2. FELEO – family love 3. ASTERGO – responsive love 4. NARCISUS – self-centered love 5.PHILOS – brotherly love	a) Love described in 1 to 5 says: “I love you if” (kung) b) “I love you because” (sapagkat)
6. AGAPE – Divine or God's love (eternal love)	c) This kind of love says “I love you in spite of” (kahit na). Agape love is the highest and ultimate form of love. It is Christlike – expecting nothing in return

Agape is a kind of love that is willing to die, so the love one will live and be saved. No one has this kind of love, only God (Jesus Christ) has it and he voluntarily (without being asked) gave it by shedding his precious blood. This blood covers the sin of all believers.

John the beloved, the Apostle of Love, defines Love demonstratively. He assumes this feeling or emotion by saying, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16 KJV). And John continues by saying: “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and everyone that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not, knoweth not God; for God is love” (1 John 4:7-8). How did God manifest his love for man? John continued: “In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation (complete payment) for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another” (1 John 4:7-11 KJV).

The Apostle Paul uses the word “charity” in his attempt to define love in 1 Cor. 13, the love chapter of the New Testament. Why charity? Because charity is giving something “without expecting anything in return”. That is why we have charitable institutions who extend help to the needy. These institutions don’t expect anything in return. Their giving is an ultimate act of love. This is where we got the expression “labor of love”, meaning we do something good for someone without expecting to be rewarded or repaid. However, the Lord Jesus decreed a reciprocal law that when we “give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give unto your bosom” (Luke 6:38 KJV).

Paul, a lawyer, prolific writer of thirteen books of the New Testament, almost half of the total 27 books of the NT, and a pharisee in his time, in defining LOVE used ACTION words, like: “Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged. It is never glad about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up (or surrenders no matter what happens), never loses faith, is always hopeful and endures through every circumstance. Love will last forever… (1 Cor. 13:4-8 NLT). “And now abideth faith, hope charity (Love), these three; but the greatest of these is charity (Love)”. (vs. 13 KJV).

Paul continues in Chapter 14 “Let love be your highest goal” (vs. 1, NLT). In the KJV, “Follow after charity (Love)”. In the NIV, “Follow the way of love . . .”. In the New King James version (NKJ), it says, “pursue love” which is a command for every believer. Those who experienced pursuing love in their dealings have felt unspeakable joy in their heart.

Yes, we can respond obediently to what our Saviour directs us to do. He knows, though, that we are not capable of doing this on our own. That’s why He has given us the Holy Spirit to empower us to a life of loving obedience. With His help, we can learn to love those we don’t like.

Love is the greatest of all human virtues and qualities, and it is an attribute of God himself (1 John 4:8). Give love, receive love, give it away. If we give love, we shall receive love and something more “in good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over” from God through men like us. The ultimate reward from God, if we truly love God and our neighbor as ourselves is the experience of unspeakable joy in our heart, and most important of all, eternal life and abode with God in heaven. (FGBMFI Davao City Chapter Bulletin Feb 18, 2012)