[Note: This article is the text of a gospel tract being prepared for the new work in the Sunbury area, in the Southwest of England. — Editor.]

Constant Coulibaly

Love is one of the deepest-seated needs in the human heart. Countless relationships falter and fail because love is often missing or misunderstood. In my lifetime, I have observed that roughly 80% of popular songs on radio and television centre on love. Interestingly, most of them are born from heartbreak. We sing about love, we yearn for love, we prize love, yet we struggle to live it.

To understand love is essential to cultivate healthy, fulfilling relationships in marriage, family, friendship or community. Jesus, the Son of God, came to earth to reveal love, true love. He did not only come to teach about love, He came to show us the way to love. And from heaven, He is ready and willing to pour out His love on all men and women who seek it, even today.

Jesus calls all people without exception to love others regardless of class, race, or socio-economic status. He said, “This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.” (John 15:12, 1 John 3:11) But what kind of love does Jesus require of us? It's the one He embodied and demonstrated in His life on earth. It has the following key features:

Sacrificial
Jesus demonstrated His love by suffering and dying to save us. Here is the measure of His sacrificial love: “For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die...while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:7-8) Would you die for a good man? Hardly. Would you take the place of a murderer condemned to life in prison? Highly unlikely. Yet that is what Jesus did: He willingly gave His life for the most depraved among us. 

Through His death on the cross, Jesus paid the price for our sins. His death on the cross is the perfect sacrifice for sin. He did not leave us to face eternal punishment which we deserved because of our sins. He rather took our guilt and its consequences upon Himself.

On the other hand, we received from God through His death what we could never deserve. Romans 6:23 captures this contrast perfectly: “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” The significance of this profound act of grace and mercy is this: no amount of law-keeping or moral goodness can erase even one sin (John 3:16; Titus 3:5). Scripture reminds us that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23)."

Welcoming
In Matthew 11:28, Jesus offered to relieve anyone of the burden of sin and all other spiritual problems. He said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” This promise echoes in Revelation 3:20 where He declares: “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” These passages reveal a simple truth: Jesus is gracious, but to receive His help and experience His love we must choose to open ourselves to a relationship with Him.

Fellowship with Jesus, as the New Testament teaches, begins with obedience to His command to be baptized in water for salvation (Mark 16:16, Acts 2:38). Because Jesus holds all authority in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18), we must obey this command. This act of obedience inaugurates a covenant relationship with Him – one characterized by continual submission to Him and living the transformed life that salvation brings (Mark 16:16; Romans 6:4).

Repentance is essential from the very start and all through this new life. Unfortunately, this concept is often misunderstood. To repent means to turn from sin to God. The word "repentance" comes from the Greek metanoia which literally means “a change of mind”. True repentance is therefore not merely admitting that we are sinners. It is a changed heart that moves one to decide to leave their sins behind. They leave them behind to follow Jesus in the path He has laid out in the New Testament. This is exactly what John the Baptist called the Jews to do before coming to Jesus (Matthew 3:1-2).

Unwavering
No matter what we face (uncertainty, disappointment, danger, loneliness or sorrow), Jesus’ love for us never wavers. He never gets tired of us, never turns away. Instead, He stands ready to help, to forgive our mistakes, and to patiently guide us back to the right path.

Forgiveness lies at the heart of true love. To show this, Jesus gave His disciples a radical teaching. When Peter asked how many times we must forgive, Jesus replied, "Seventy times seven" (Matthew 18:21–35). True forgiveness knows no numerical limit.

You Can Love Too

Jesus' example of selfless love inspires and empowers us to love one another. Through His apostle Paul, He provides further teaching on this essential virtue. In 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, Paul outlines the characteristics of love, setting out a practical guide to loving as Christ intended. They are as follows:

LOVE IS PATIENT,
LOVE IS KIND. IT DOES NOT
ENVY, IT DOES NOT BOAST,
IT IS NOT PROUD. IT IS NOT
SELF-SEEKING, IT IS NOT
EASILY ANGERED, IT KEEPS
NO RECORDS OF WRONGS.
LOVE DOES NOT DELIGHT IN EVIL
BUT REJOICES WITH THE TRUTH.
IT ALWAYS PROTECTS,
ALWAYS TRUSTS, ALWAYS HOPES,
ALWAYS PERSEVERES.

Paul introduces that teaching with this powerful point: without love, we are nothing! Consider his own words: “I may speak in different languages, whether human or even of angels. But if I don’t have love, I am only a noisy bell or a ringing cymbal. 2 I may have the gift of prophecy, I may understand all secrets and know everything there is to know, and I may have faith so great that I can move mountains. But even with all this, if I don’t have love, I am nothing. 3 I may give away everything I have to help others, and I may even give my body as an offering to be burned. But I gain nothing by doing all this if I don’t have love.” (1 Corinthians 13:1-3, Holy Bible: Easy-to-Read Version)

If we follow this pattern, we will succeed in loving one another just as the Son of God intended. Love is the highest virtue of all, and we need to accept to learn it from Jesus. He said, "We love Him, because He first loved us." We learn love from the divine; the Bible says, "God is love" (1 John 4:8). Love is the very nature of God.

Dear reader, we invite you to come to Jesus and receive your share of His love – the greatest of all (John 15:13). In return, you must obey His commands. This is how you demonstrate your love for Him, as 1 John 5:3 teaches: "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments..." Then you will become His friend, as he said: “Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.” (John 15:14)

Love for Jesus is shown through submission to Him, just as love for God is expressed through submission to Him. And our love for one another must reflect our love for God. John said: “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments." (1 John 5:2-3). We learn to love our fellow men by first learning to love God.