Designed for Love
God Designed Us to Love Him and Each Other
What is Love?
1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. 4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it [love] is not arrogant 5 or rude. It [love] does not insist on its own way; it [love] is not irritable or resentful; 6 it [love] does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but [love] rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, [love] believes all things, [love] hopes all things, [love] endures all things. 8 Love never ends. (1 Corinthians 13:1-8 ESV)
- Without love this scripture says we are like a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal when we speak.
- Without love this scripture says we are nothing even if we have prophetic powers and understand all mysteries and all knowledge and have all faith.
- Without love this scripture says we gain nothing if we voluntarily give the ultimate sacrifice and are martyred for our faith.
Oh, how many times have I spoken without love. Too many.
Why Do We Love?
We love because he [God] first loved us. (1 John 4:19 ESV)
Which Commandment is the Most Important of All?
28 And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:28-31 ESV)
36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matt 22:26-40 ESV) [all the Old Testament is based on loving God and people]
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Ephesians 5:2
and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.1 Timothy 1:5
But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.Luke 10:25-37
And a lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" And He said to him, "What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?" And he answered, "YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND; AND YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF."Proverbs 17:9
He who conceals a transgression seeks love, But he who repeats a matter separates intimate friends.1 Corinthians 16:14
Let all that you do be done in love.1 Thessalonians 1:3
constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and FatherRomans 12:9
Let love be without hypocrisy Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.Galatians 5:22
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulnessJohn 15:12
"This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.Matthew 7:12
"In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.Luke 6:31
"Treat others the same way you want them to treat you.Philippians 1:9
And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment,John 13:34
"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.Hebrews 13:1
Let love of the brethren continue.1 Peter 2:17
Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king.James 2:8
If, however, you are fulfilling the royal law according to the Scripture, "YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF," you are doing well."Love, of Fellow Man", Knowing Jesus, https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Love,-Of-Fe...
Why did God make the earth and us along with it? He doesn't really need us, so why did he create anything?
Great question, and you're not the first to ask it. King David asked essentially the same thing:
"When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers … what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?" (Psalm 8:3-4).Why did God make us? To answer that, we need to know three things:
First, and you mentioned this in your question, it wasn't because he needed us: "The God who made the world and everything in it … is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything" (Acts 17:24-25).And he didn't make us because he was lonely. Long before we were here, God already had "company" with his Son and the Holy Spirit, referred to in Genesis 1:26, "Let us make man in our own image."
And he didn't make us because he needed his ego fed. It's not like God made us to satisfy some craving to be worshiped. God is totally secure in who he is—without us.
Second, despite not needing us, God chose to create us anyway, out of his great love: "I have loved you with an everlasting love" (Jeremiah 31:3). Yes, God loved us before he even created us. It's impossible to get our heads around that idea, but it's true; that's what "everlasting" love means.
God is love (1 John 4:8), and because of that love and his wonderful creativity, he made us so we can enjoy all that he is and all that he's done.
Third, God created us to fulfill his eternal plan. I could write pages and pages about this, but suffice it to say that God, in his infinite wisdom, chose to make us a part of his eternal plan.
What part do we play in this plan? Well, the Bible is full of instructions for how we should live our lives. But here are a few key verses to remember:
1. "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength" (Deuteronomy 6:5).
2. "Love your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:39).
3. "We are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do" (Ephesians 2:10).
We're also part of the war between God and Satan, and God's ultimate plan to defeat Satan. By putting our faith in God, we can defeat Satan and his lies (see Ephesians 6:10-18).
Finally, perhaps the most important part we play in God's eternal plan is to point people to eternal life with God—through his Son Jesus Christ. The Bible calls this our "ministry of reconciliation" (2 Corinthians 5:18-19).
That's why we're here. But it's also important to note that we have a choice in all of this. When God created us, he didn't make us pawns in some cosmic chess game. We're not his toy soldiers. God gives us freedom of choice.
Bottom line: God may not need us, but we certainly need him. I hope you've made the choice to put your trust completely in him—and play an exciting part in his loving, eternal plan.
Dawson McAllister, "Why Did God Create Us?", Christianity Today, http://www.christianitytoday.com/iyf/advice/faithd...