Should there be a reason to love?

"If I love someone with worldly love, there is always a reason why I want to love. Ultimately, selfishness is at the center of all worldly love. Think about it. As an example, take dating relationships. Why do most dating relationships begin? Is it because two people want to display the love of Christ to each other? No, usually it is because one person notices something desirable (something that he/she wants) in the other person. Often, the quality is something as shallow as mere physical beauty. Sometimes that quality is money, status, or power.

As another example, take friendships. Why are some people not accepted socially? There are always those who just do not have many, if any, friends. Why is this? It is because these people do not posses a quality that others find desirable or beneficial; therefore there is no reason for someone to love them-another example of selfishness.

This agrees with the story of the good Samaritan that Jesus told in Luke 10:25-37. The man who was beaten and robbed possessed no desirable characteristics that made anyone want to love him and so both a priest and a Levite passed by the man without so much as calling for help. A Samaritan showed true compassion and love by helping him. There was a cost involved-at least monetarily (Luke 10:35), but also socially (Samaritans do not associate with Jews) and probably physically. It was no easy task to pick up a half-beaten, bloody man and take him to an inn. Jesus said that the story illustrated how we are to love our neighbors as ourselves (Luke 10:27). This was not a worldly love, but God's love.

True love originates from God, not from self: "love comes from God" (I John 4:7). In fact, it is a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). If you love with God's love, the people that you love may not have any characteristic that makes you want to love them.

In prophesying about Christ Isaiah said that "He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him" (Isaiah 53:2). Rather than loving people for your benefit, you choose to love them for their benefit and God's eternal benefit. Philippians 2:3-4 tells us to consider others better than ourselves.

According to the Bible (I Corinthians 13:1-8), love can be defined as any act, attitude, or manner of living characterized by patience, kindness, humility, selflessness, forgiveness, and a hatred of evil. Motives or goals of love include bearing with others, trusting, hoping, and enduring; thus, it is not temporary."

(taken from : http://www.ovrlnd.com/index.php)


Father, I pray that even when there's only one person, one soul, one heart to win for Jesus.. I will not let that ONE pass me by.. because I know that ONE matters so much to You. Help me Lord.. Help me to forgive, teach me how to love, teach me how to show compassion. In Jesus' name, Amen.