Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. (Colossians 3:12-15 ESV)
The characteristic Apostle Paul lists in this encouragement to the body of Jesus which rises above all others is that of love. We are to be adorned with all of the attributes of Christian character listed in this passage through the help of His Holy Spirit, but above all of them resides love. It is love that conditions our character and how we walk out our faith in service to both our King and to others. It is the recognition of the love of our Messiah which inspires us to humbly follow. It is the love that was first poured out for us which compels us to reciprocate the love we were given toward the One who ultimately gave. Jesus gave of Himself because of love so that we might live! Therefore as the Apostle Paul encourages, let us put on love.
The word love found here in the English is taken from the Greek word Agape (G26). I am sure we are all familiar with this term. Agape is self-sacrificing, devotional and benevolent love. It is a love driven for the sake of those who are loved. Jesus went to the cross expressing this love. He suffered the penalty of our sin for the sake of those He loved. He has Redeemed us because of His love for us as His children. He will return to receive us into His Kingdom, forever, because we are loved. As we are loved, we too should respond to this indescribable love of Jesus through our humble devotion toward Him.
Agape love is considered the highest form of love. It is a love that can only result from the humility of the one loving. It comes from a choice to recognize the worth of those who are loved. To lay down one’s own will for the sake of the other, is love. Our Messiah gives us this example when He went to the cross to accomplish the purpose of His first advent, to save those who are His. The body of Messiah must therefore adopt this attitude in our love for one another as we endeavor to build one another up for the common good of accomplishing the work that He has set before us. When we begin to recognize the depth to which we are loved by Jesus, we will be able to perceive but a glimpse of the hope we have in His glory (2 Corinthians 4:17-18). Our eyes fixed upon what is eternal, we choose then to walk in love in effort to accomplish our purpose for His glory!
The Apostle Paul gives the body of Messiah this instruction in his letter to the church in Corinth.
“If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things”
-(1 Corinthians 13:1-7 NASB95)
These words are most often used during a wedding ceremony. But we must remember that the Apostle Paul is writing to the church. His words are directed to those who have declared faith in Jesus as their savior. While these words are appropriate to share to a couple who is entering into a marriage covenant, they are vital for all of us. These words should not be relegated to only a wedding, but applied daily to the walk of faith for each one. Love must direct our efforts to follow our Savior. All that we choose to do must be driven by the love we have for Jesus. As Paul reminds us, we can choose to act or be motivated to accomplish all sorts of things, but if we do them absent our love for Jesus, we are nothing. It serves no ultimate purpose for the glory of our King. If we do not walk in love for Jesus, we are just making a whole bunch of purposeless noise.
Let us then be patient and kind. Not driven by jealousy or anger in our arrogance to place ourselves at the center of our will, But let us lay down our will for the sake of following the will of our Father. Let us forgive as we have been forgiven. Rejoicing in truth because we can praise the Name of the One who helps us endure all things through His love. Let us walk according to His purpose in our lives for the glory of our King! And finally, let us love in both word and in truth (1 John 3:18). May we all choose to do our best to be the people that our Savior has created us to be. Let the love we confess with our mouths truly be an expression of the love we hold within our heart. All this for the glory of Jesus, who first loved us.
Corby Shuey 