Love

"...And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love." (1st letter of Paul to Corinthians [chap. 13], the Bible).

The very context onto the whole saga of life is love, not even faith can encompass the very essence of love. It is the very basis of God's creation, and mankind is intended to be the manifestation. Why love is the greatest among everything?, it is because Love is God himself. Apart from his creation that we can see and touch, love is the only thing we can feel in our heart in an exquisite manner, and in different types - towards God, towards family, to others, and to someone special.

We could have hope, or faith - we go to church, we pray religiously, and we practice all kinds of efforts to please God, but we don't have love, or that love is corrupted, then that faith is useless. So love is the measure of everything, what we do to ourselves and what we do to others is the very meaning of faith, or I should say the love of God. So faith or love of God is nothing without love to ourselves and towards others. As Christ himself says about the greatest commandment: "' Love thy God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind as the first greatest commandment', and the second greatest commandment is this 'love thy neighbor as you love yourself''" (The context of 'commandment' here refers to the laws according to Moses which includes the 'Ten commandments', and Christ is trying to sum up all the laws of Moses into two [The Book of Mathew, Chap. 22]). These two commandments are intertwined, an equal measure of love should be given to others as to oneself, and if we do this our love of God is manifested.

God acted first on love when he decided to create human beings, it was his very motive when he thought he wants to create. Not only with human beings that he wanted to share his intricate godly being, but that same human being to have full experience on love by creating an environment, the ethereal world, and the real world, to fully comprehend and experience Love. Love is also the very reason why God didn't gave up Adam when he committed transgression (The Bible, Genesis), not Adam himself but his children, through a special son, Jesus, son of God.

God can disown Adam straight away when he committed 'sin' and can bring him back to dust, and create a new Adam, but he didn't do it. He loves Adam very much (though he has to die because of his transgression) that our God decided to send a very special one, his "only begotten son", in the real world, to replaced Adam as the father of humankind. He can do this by atonement for his 'sin', and redeeming his children to be returned into God's grace, into his 'bosom' (hence his name 'Jesus Christ', meaning: God will save mankind by an appointed one from the ethereal world [heaven]). God's act of love through Christ cannot be measured, as the son of God is described to be 'his beloved son', and the Lord of all creation. The son is the only creation of God, "the only begotten son", who then created everything, including angels in heaven, which made him 'second in command' in the celestial heavenly domain. Jesus then was sent to the world to suffer as a human being, to experience death, only to fulfill God's love, on his lost child Adam. This is why Jesus, when nearly dying in the cross (or stake), after so much suffering had cried out and looking up in heaven, with his tears, had said: "It is done!" (The Book of John, Chap. 19). This context of love is much expressed into the most popular verse in the scripture, John 3:16:

For God loves the world so much that he gave his only begotten son, so that everyone who believes in him will not die, but will gain everlasting life.

But why the need of Jesus to die when Adam is the one who committed the 'sin'?. It's simple, Adam is the progenitor of human genes, and anybody that comes out from that gene is corrupted because of transgression against God, and its outcome is death. To remedy that, a human blood without transgression against God (without a sin) has to qualify to counter-act the transgression Adam had committed, and he has to die - such is the rule in the beginning and it has to be in the end. That's why Jesus was born out of a virgin woman, out from the holy spirit, as the "second Adam", without a 'sin', to finally crushed the ancient 'curse', and free the children of Adam from death by undergoing death himself, even though how painful it is to be - a very unselfish act of love from the son of God.

This is the love of God that came full circle - the saving of Adam by saving his children, and being fulfilled by the son of God, the lord of all creation, to become the father of mankind - the second Adam.


"Love thy neighbor as you love yourself"
To appreciate the very meaning of love according to Jesus is to recognize the circle of love - to God, to others, and to oneself. There is an emphasis on loving others but before anyone can commit to that a person should look to himself first on how much love he has for himself. Loving of oneself can be bad or good, but in general, a normal person has this natural self-love (see wikipedia/Self-love) that he should extend it to love others. On the other way round, we cannot exercise love for others and to our God if we don't have a healthy disposition in loving ourselves. Hence, in order to practice love towards others it is required to look after ourselves first, and how does one achieved this?, in many ways, like by being positive to oneself and avoiding matters in life that causes tension or depression (mental health, e.g., avoiding situation that will lead to suicidal tendencies), acting in dignified manner and not allowing oneself to be treated low (psychological health, e.g., avoiding despair due to separation from a loved one, also bulimia or anorexia), and another one is control of eating habit (physical health, e.g., eating unhealthy knowing it will lead to obesity ). There are plenty of ways to show love to ourselves, because if we don't do this, what's the point of showing love to others if we ourselves do not have it? that is called hypocrisy - we tell people to believe something that we don't believe.

Faith is the foremost display of self-love, although it is directed to God or to other things, it is the very instinct of knowing that you are connected to something good, and somehow keeping you up to your well-being, and that is for yourself. Without this self-love (faith) nobody can also profess belief on one's redemption offered by Christ. Hence, love of oneself is a necessity to save our self, it is a 'selfish' thing, but it's a divine one.

"Thy neighbor"
Loving others is the foremost essence of love. In general, 'neighbor' refers to everybody including friends and families, and it pertains to the general population in the context of God's commandment. We have to bear in mind that the scripture didn't give us any indication about discriminating from friends or families against 'neighbors' that we don't know, hence, the rule of loving others is an equal measure of loving people we know and to people, we don't know. It is only this way we can profess loving our 'neighbor' according to God's will.

Loving our neighbor includes loving people we thought are different like the infirm, disabled people, or the disfigured ones, the mentally ill, the homosexuals, and lastly and especially elderly ones who are often neglected because of their age. This equal measure of love is expected from someone who professes to love God, as God himself didn't discriminate about his love when his son died for each and every one of us. Anyone who has doubt about his love towards others will also have a doubt in God's love - for this is the very meaning of love, to love others.

Homosexuality
Other people might question this rule in relation to homosexuality, citing the Bible,  especially the letter of Paul to Romans (Romans, Chap. 1[26,27]). But we have to understand the context of such written expression in the Bible, and has to be treated in a case to case basis. And in relation to Apostle Paul's letter to Romans, he is referring to Romans who had "gave up natural sexual relations" and had relations with each other. These are men, or women, who are naturally inclined to the opposite sex, but then eventually chose to be with the same sex, hence they are not 'naturally' homosexuals. These are hedonists (for pleasure [Greek Hedone], see also sodomy), who practice all sorts of behavior in pursuit of self-gratification or pleasure in flesh, and it was widely practiced in pagan Roman times when Christianity is outlawed at the time. Hence homosexuality, in essence, has never been discussed in the Bible, for such reference is alien during Roman times. Apostle Paul would definitely understand the case of homosexuality, especially in modern times when it is considered as hereditary or genetic in origin - that means homosexuals have no choice in their sexual orientation, and cannot be blamed on any action they take in relation to that orientation, as long as they are certain that they are inherently inclined to such behavior.

Wrongdoing

How about if somebody committed wrongdoing against you, or you learned that somebody committed wrongdoing to somebody, is that person entitled of love from everyone?. It is interesting to note that Jesus has the last say to such matters. According to Apostle Mathew (Mathew Chap. 5, NIV), he quoted Jesus who said: "If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.". Which is a hyperbole, something to emphasize the meaning of love. We don't turn our other cheek to be slapped, it simply means we go beyond understanding in showing our love, with no retribution, no judgment, why?. As the greatest of all teacher, I'll give Jesus the last say: " You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."

The Circle-of-love is very important, it is the template for life, happiness, and joy. And it is also the hope for life...not only for this world but for the world that is coming. And love will be the driving force for its fulfillment, and for everything. Two thousand years ago, Apostle Paul wrote this in relation to love (1 Corinthians chap. 13, The Bible, English Standard Version):

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 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. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. 

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  

Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. 

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