“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 NIV https://bible.com/bible/111/1co.13.4-6.NIV
God requires one thing from us, and it is the only thing that makes sense for God to require of us, for it is the greatest thing He could require of us. Only the Christian God makes this requirement, proving again that He alone is God and all the others are made by men to control and manipulate men to do the will of other men. What does God require of us? That we love. We must love Him first and foremost and prove this love by loving our fellow man like we love ourselves and like He has loved us. God loves us and has proven His love for us by coming to us as one of us to die for us, making possible a pardon for all our sins and living with Him forever with all those who have also loved Him. Love is so simple but so hard. The definition of love, as Paul describes, is daily violated by my thoughts, words, and so often even my deeds. Even within my own family, loving those I love the most on earth is still hard to demonstrate consistently and perfectly. Love is hard because I love myself the most, but my love for self is perverted from God’s original design, so I love myself so often at the cost of others. When I am angry, lustful, selfish, greedy, covetous, etc., all manifestations of self-love that somehow others could or should have done to love me better as I have defined it. God’s love is unconditional and sacrificial. God commands me to love by serving others, sacrificing for others, and sharing His love through Jesus so that all people can be reconciled to God and have peace with God to live forever with God in His coming kingdom where love will reign supreme. This is how God loves me and how I am to love God and others. Simple but not so easy.
