English Article:Love – The Greatest Gift

In this modern era,  Love isn’t given much importance in our Christian life. We are called as the followers of Christ and we ought to wear a Christ like character and through us,  we must witness God’s love. Jesus, our saviour has shown His  immeasurable love towards us by dying for us on the Cross of Calvary. That’s why we say that the gift of God isn’t a diamond or any other materialistic things but it is the Cross itself where He paid a price for each one of us. To lead a successful Christian life,  love is an important factor; in other words,  it’s mandatory. What does the Bible say about love? Why is Love given a greater significance in the Bible?Let’s take a look for the answers to these questions.

In the Gospel of Matthew, Love is considered as the first and greatest commandment of all. Matthew 22:37-40 says,  “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.  This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets. ”  As it is said in the last verse, these are the two important commandments given to the New Testament believers. Hence they are therefore considered as the root to all other commandments in the Bible. Though these commandments look very simple yet they are very much hard to apply in our day to day life. There are times when we have to deny ourselves for the good of others. In the epistle of John, it’s mentioned that if anyone says that he loves God and hate his brother,  he is a liar. Also in 1 John 4:7-8 says, ” Beloved,  let us love one another, for love is of God and everyone who love is born of God and knows God. He who doesn’t love does not know God.” Hence,  it’s our duty to love God and to love one another for He loved us first while we were still called sinners and set an example before us through his life on earth.

1 Corinthians 13 contains all the qualities of Love. In the first few verses, it remind us that without the true love of God, everything we do goes in vain. Therefore it is known to us through Bible that everything we do for the glory of God,  be it with a sincere heart and out of pure love towards God. In the epistle of James 4:4 says that the friendship with world creates enmity with God. 1 Timothy 6:10 states that the love for money is the root of all kinds of evil. Money is an important factor to lead a normal life but when we give more importance to it than our God, it becomes a sin and produces evil. Money minded thoughts are infact the trap of Satan to deviate us from the path of God, Let’s not fall for it because we know that our God is Jehovah Jireh. Therefore my brethren, give the first priority to God than any others and make your life a Christ centered one for God to take all glory and honor.Throughout the Bible, we see that love of God play an important role in our life. The key verse of the entire Bible is 1 John 3:16 which again states the boundless love of God. Hence it is so significantly mentioned in the bible.

Let us encourage and embrace one another with the pure love of God. Christ, our father, loves all of us not because we are so good to Him but because He is too good to us. Lead your life as a pleasing sacrifice for God because His time is near.

Janet K John

IPC Peniel, Bahrain