LOVE, LOVE, LOVE

Were the Beatles right when they said that all you need is love?

Well, perhaps that statement is a tad simplistic, but the Bible itself says that the most important of all virtues is LOVE.

*Gal. 5:14, "But all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' "
*1 Cor. 13:13, "And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love."
*Jn. 13:35, "By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."
*Rom. 13:8, "Owe to no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law."
*1 Cor. 16:14, "Let all that you do be done with love."
*Col. 3:14, "But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection."
*1 Pet. 4:8, "And above all things have fervent love for one another, for 'love will cover a multitude of sins.' "
*1 Jn. 3:11, "for this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another."

Over and over again, the Scriptures remind us that the greatest commandment is to LOVE one another. And over and over again, we fail.

Gal. 5:15, "But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another."

Note that all of these references are speaking to believers. Why do we bite and devour one another? Is it because we have higher expectations for each other? Is it because we want to show Christ's love to unbelievers, so we're cautious around them, but forget to love our fellow believer?

Whatever my reasons and your reasons might be, it ultimately comes down to this: Satan will do anything to tear us(the body of believers) apart and we so easily fall into his trap of destroying one another. Nothing will make Satan happier than to have believers biting and consuming one another and forgetting their ultimate aim: to bring God glory and to further His kingdom. It's impossible to do both of those at the same time.

Today's Reading:

1 Jn. 3:16, "By this we know love- that He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for one another."

1 Jn. 4:7-11, "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us-that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love-not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another."

"All you need is love, love, Love is all you need."