Love, the Motivating Factor

“A new commandment I give unto you, That you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.  By this shall all men know that you are My disciples, if you have love one to another”.  John 13:34-35

We are all familiar with the Ten Commandments or at least we should be if we are a believer in Jesus Christ.  In case you haven’t noticed, there is nothing in the Ten Commandments which were given to Moses on Mt. Sinai about loving one another.  However, love is implied because love is the major motivating factor for obeying the Ten Commandments.  If it is not love, then it is the fear of punishment that motivates people to obey God.  The main reason for obeying traffic laws is the fear of getting caught when violating them, receiving a fine, or worse, and not so much because it’s the right thing to do.

Since love was not specifically mentioned in the Ten Commandments, perhaps that is why Jesus said He was giving us a “new” commandment.  The law can’t make us love one another just like it can’t forgive our sins, but the love of Christ can in both instances.  Love was what motivated God to send Jesus to sacrifice Himself on the cross so that we could be forgiven and become part of God’s family.  John 3:16 is probably the most well-known verse in scripture, but I would say that it is probably the least understood by the secular world.  I don’t think unbelievers can grasp that kind of love that would cause God to allow His Son to suffer and die for them.  When so many people think that all they have to do is be a “good” person (judging by their standard of what constitutes “good” and not God’s standard) in order to make it to heaven, they do not understand “agape” love, a sacrificial love that would allow One to die for them to make them acceptable to God.  It is this sacrificial love as measured by what one will give up or deny himself or herself in order to make life better for someone else.  Jesus gave His life to provide not only eternal life, but an abundant life on earth filled with the joy of the Lord and the peace of and with God.

I will admit that some folks are very difficult to love for one reason or another.  Some folks have what we call “toxic personalities”.  We don’t like to be around them because they are so negative, complaining, or just rubbing us the wrong way.  And then there are those who seem to be working against us.  They could be politicians, criminals, or just people who hate us for whatever reason.  Some of their animosity toward us stems from envy.  If they knew what kind of things that we have had to go through in this life, I don’t think they would be so envious.  In high school, there were the kids from the wealthy side of town, many of them were snobs, looking down their noses at all of us nobodies, the kids from the not-so-affluent side of town.  In the workplace as well are folks who don’t get along.  When I worked full time, our office was very pleasant, but as the business grew and more people were hired, there was always at least one employee who liked to keep a controversy stirred up which caused problems.  I could go on listing folks who give us a real challenge to love them but loving them is not an option.

If we desire to know where we stand in our relationship to Christ, consider how we treat others.  To love others is to want the best for them.  Not everyone is easy to love, but then neither are we sometimes.  We should keep that in mind.