Concerning Love.

To love means to will and work for the well-being of all God’s creatures and creation. God is love (1 John 4:8, 16). Love has justice as its other side and finds its con¬creteness in justice (Micah 6:7-8). Love gives itself unselfishly to the object loved: “God so loved that he gave (John 3:16); “Greater love bath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13); “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it” (Eph. 5:25). Love for God and love for others are the fulfillment of the law and the prophets (Matt. 22:33-40). The Christian cannot love God and hate his neighbor (1 John 4:20-21).

James calls love “the royal law” (James 2:8). Our love for God and humanity is based on God’s having first loved us (1 John 4:19). It is love that constrains or controls us (2 Cot. 5:14). Love should be limitless, reaching out to our enemies as well as our friends (Matt. 5:43-45). Love is the first fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22), is the bond which “binds everything together in perfect harmony” (Col. 3:14, RSV), is the more excellent way (1 Cot. 12:31), and is the highest rung on the ladder of virtues (2 Pet. 1:5-7).

When we face the is¬sues of life, some of which may be extremely complex, we should ask, “Wht does love demand? How can I express the maximum quality and amount of love to God and to my neighbor?” Our prayer for ourselves and for one another should be comparable to Paul’s prayer for the Thessalonians: “And may the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men” (1 Thess. 3:12).