THE COST OF LOVING YOUR NEIGHBOURS

-Gavin Aleogho
 
The cardinal virtue of the Christian faith is love; love for God and love for humanity. Our Lord Jesus Christ expects us to demonstrate the highest degree of love which is agape love to all men. And it is important to know that agape love is beyond words and feelings. It is a love that must be put into action and such action will always cost us.
 
Sacrifice is one of the hallmarks of genuine love. And to sacrifice is to give up something valuable for somebody. Genuine love for our neighbours is not void of sacrifice. It could be the sacrifice of your time, self, strength, energy, comfort, money, resources or intellect.
 
From God’s perspective, you can’t talk about loving your neighbours without a cost. To show genuine love demands some form of sacrifice. God loved man and His love for man cost Him His Son, Jesus.
 
Our love must move beyond asking “what is in for me” to asking “what is in for me to give.” That is the nature of agape love.
 
There are a lot of lessons to be learnt from the story of the Good Samaritan, which was said by our Lord Jesus Christ in Luke 10:29-37. 
 
It was not convenient for the Good Samaritan to pause his journey and attend to the man that was attacked by robbers. It cost him his time, appointments, energy, resources and even his money. The Good Samaritan demonstrated his love to the victim through acts of sacrifice.
 
Like the Good Samaritan, if you are not willing to be inconvenient then you are not ready to walk in God’s love towards your neighbour. Inconvenience is just one of the sacrifices you will need to pay to demonstrate agape love.
 
For our Lord Jesus Christ said;
 
But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.
1 John 3:17-18
 
Let me leave you with these scriptures to meditate on
 
Let brotherly love continue. Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body.
Hebrews 13:1-3
 

IS GOD’S LOVE UNCONDITIONAL?

 

 By Gavin Aleogho

I have read and listened to diverse views about the unconditional feature of God’s love. On one hand, there is a group of Bible Scholars who believe God’s love is unconditional. And on the other hand, we have some Bible scholars who oppose the fact that God’s love is unconditional. When you study these two views, you will discover that both views have some element of truth.

To have balance and a better understanding of the unconditional feature of God’s love, it is important to understand what the unconditional feature of God’s love means. 

The unconditional feature of God’s love implies that God’s love is given to man unconditionally without any prior prerequisite to whether the man deserves it or not. 

Please, take note of the word “GIVEN”. It is one thing for something (in this case, God’s love) to be “GIVEN”. But it is another thing for it to be “RECEIVED”. For not until what is given is received, the transaction is incomplete.

God’s love is given to man unconditionally, but for it to benefit the receiver, it is not without conditions.

The following scripture points to the fact that God’s love came to man unconditionally:

But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 5:8

Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

1 John 4:10

You can see that God’s love came to us, even when we don’t deserve it. That is the unconditional feature of God’s love on display.

However, it is important to understand that God’s love is not without a condition if it must benefit a man. The popular Bible verse reads: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever BELIEVETH in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16). 

For a man to benefit from God’s love, He must BELIEVE in Jesus Christ. That is a condition that is required from a man who must enjoy the benefits of God’s love.

This condition is further explained in Romans 10:9 that reads: “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”

There are some believers who think that because of God’s unconditional love, they can go on living anyhow and make a habit of sinning continuously, breaking God’s law. That is a deception that you mustn’t fall into. God’s unconditional love is not without an obligation from your end if it must benefit you. 

Yes, God’s love came to us unconditionally. But we must meet the condition of believing in Jesus Christ and repenting (turning away) from our evil ways as seen in the following scripture:

And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:

Acts 17:30

For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

Titus 2:11-12

God’s love can be illustrated as God stretching His hand unconditionally to help drowning men from their sins. However, for a drowning man to be saved, he must of necessity meet the CONDITION of stretching out his hand back to God to be helped.

It is important to know that God’s love is not without an obligation. It is not without demand or responsibility. It is not a call to relinquish your responsibility to God. God’s love demands a corresponding response from the man who has been given the love. For without a corresponding response to God’s love, you can’t get the full benefit of the love.

Take for example; when it rains, it rains on all, but the man who benefits from the rain is the individual who has a need for water, who takes the pains to get a bucket to hold the water. The rain came unconditionally to everyone (both to the good and bad), but it only benefits the one who responded appropriately to the rain.

There is a parable in Matthew 22:1-14 that was said by our Lord Jesus Christ that clearly shows the “UNCONDITIONAL GIVING” and the “CONDITIONAL RECEIVING” of God’s love.

1  And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said,

2 The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son,

3 And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come.

4 Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage.

5 But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise: 6 And the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them.

7 But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.

8 Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy.

9 Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage.

10 So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests.

11 And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment:

12 And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.

13 Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

14 For many are called, but few are chosen. 

Matthew 22:1-14

The story clearly depicts how our Heavenly Father shows His love to humanity. Verse 9 down to verse 14 shows how an open invitation was made to all. That is the unconditional love of the Father on display. However, reading verses 11 and 12, we find a man who was not putting on the wedding garment that was required for the occasion. He was deprived of enjoying the feast for this reason. This is how God’s love is given to all men.

The invitation is made freely (unconditionally) to all men, however, you are required to put away your old garment of sin and put on the garment of holiness and righteousness, if you must remain in the banquet hall of God’s love.

The parable is a warning to those who take God’s unconditional love and the invitation to His kingdom for granted. The man in Matthew 22 who took God’s benevolence of His grace for granted was severely punished.