Loving with All Your Heart

Cindy longed to know the will of God for her life. She loved Jesus and wanted to obey His commands. She wanted to devote her whole life to serving Him. But she didn't know how to do it.

Often she expressed discontentment with her humdrum life to her Christian friends. But her friends told her it was enough to be faithful in going to church, reading her Bible, and sharing her faith whenever she had the opportunity. They assured her God needed her to be a light in the office where she worked, and in the neighborhood where she lived. She did her best, but she knew it wasn't enough. So much of her time and energy was spent on the cares and worries of making a living, paying her bills, trying to relate to people who just didn't seem to understand the longings of her heart.

She knew that Jesus had said:

Do not be anxious for your life, as to what you shall eat; nor for your body, as to what you shall put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. For all these things the nations of the world eagerly seek; but your Father knows that you need these things. But seek for His kingdom, and these things shall be added to you. (Luke 12:22,23,30,31)

How could she obey that? She spent every bit as much time and energy working to meet her own needs for food, clothing and shelter as did her non-Christian friends. And even her Christian friends were more concerned with acquiring possessions than selling them to help the poor, even though the Master had said:

Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves purses which do not wear out, and unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. (Luke 12:33,34)

He had even gone so far as to say,

"No one can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions" (Luke 14:33).

How she longed to really be a disciple, a "disciplined one," someone who lived each day for the Master, doing His will, obeying His commands, expressing His love to a lost and dying world, unhindered by the cares and worries of life! She loved the times when missionaries would come to her church telling about the exciting work they were doing in some far-off land, preaching the gospel and teaching the Bible to people who had never heard it before. But it seemed so out of reach.

Then one day the youth pastor in her church told her about a missionary conference where thousands of young people were gathering to hear about the opportunities and challenges of the mission field, and how they could actually participate in fulfilling the Great Commission. Could she go to this conference? How much did it cost? Ohhh! Where could she find that much money? How would she get there and back? Somehow she had to find a way. She just had to!

She was astonished when she was chosen to receive a grant from her denomination to go to the conference! Her youth pastor had been impressed with her sincerity and suggested that she apply for the grant, but she never dreamed that she would actually receive it. All she could think was that God had something for her there, and she was going to find out what it was and bring it back with her. Her heart was beating fast when she boarded the bus with all the other young Christian men and women, full of zeal and anticipation on their way to the week-long missionary conference.

Cindy kept a journal of the whole week so she wouldn't forget anything. Afraid that the excitement and zeal she was experiencing wouldn't last very long after leaving the conference, she wrote letters to herself and mailed them so that she would be encouraged by them when she returned home. But what she really wanted was to stay there always, to never leave, to always live with people who wanted to serve God. She wanted to wake up with them and have breakfast together, and while eating talk about the Creator and how wonderful He was, then to spend the day laboring together for the kingdom, and then in the evening to eat and share with people who had the same goal as she had: to serve God with all her heart, mind and soul.

For that one week in her young life, Cindy lived with people whose mind was set on one purpose. She didn't want it to end. Yet soon she found herself driving back home, to people who didn't understand what she had experienced. "Wait!" she cried. "I don't want to go home! I want this to last forever!" For that short week she had caught a glimpse of what disciples loving one another could be like.

What is Love?

It's easy to talk about love. Talk is cheap. You can define love whatever way is most comfortable for you. It's nice to talk about love. We all like to think of ourselves as loving.

• "Love is getting a good job so I can provide security for my family."
• "Love is doing volunteer work on the weekends."
• "Love is supporting God's work with my tithes and offerings."

Someone said we may need to redefine the word "love." But if we do, we might just redefine it to suit ourselves, like, "Love is giving a year of my career as a medical professional to help in the mission field."

But there is no need to re-define "love." The Son of God defined it perfectly 2000 years ago. All we need to do is just accept His definition.

The Gospel according to John makes it absolutely clear what kind of love He calls all His disciples to have:

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. (John 13:34-35)

Some people read this and wonder, "Does He really expect us to love just like He loved?" And almost as if He knew people would ask that question, He repeated Himself for emphasis:

This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:12-13).

Many people might wonder, "What does it mean to lay down my life? I can't die on the cross for anybody, so what is the spiritual meaning of this command?" And this command is hard to understand. But our Master was not using vague, mystical terms. He was referring to something that His disciples had observed and experienced for three and a half years. Day and night He had denied Himself for their sake, forgiving them, bearing with their faults and weaknesses, exposing their lack of faith, wrong motives and attitudes — making sure all their needs were met. He lived for their sake. His death on the cross was the culmination of laying down His life.

It was in the context of their communal life together that He commanded them, "Love one another, just as I have loved you." Outside of a life together, there is no way to love as He loved, or even to understand His way of love. For He loved completely, continuously, unconditionally. He gave them all His time, not just His spare time.

Sharing God's Love

Many people are concerned with bringing God's love to the world. They want the billions who have never heard of Jesus to believe that the Father loved them so much that He sent His own Son to die for them. But most fail to take into account one fundamental principle: in order to share something we must first have it ourselves. And most people would not be too proud to admit that they don't love their brothers just as our Master loved. This is obvious when you consider that few, if any, live the common life that the Master and His disciples did. Ironic, given the Master's heartfelt prayer the night that he was betrayed,

The glory which you have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, that the world may know that You sent me and have loved them even as You have loved Me. (John 17:22-23)

This love and unity, which was so central to our Master's message, was not a mere ideal, but it was actually present for the whole world to see in the early Church, as the account in Acts describes:

And all those who had believed were together, and had all things in common; and they were selling their property and possessions, and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need ... (Acts 2:44-45)

All the believers were one in heart and mind ... There was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales, and lay them at the apostles' feet; and they would be distributed to each, as any had need. (Acts 4:32,34)

And day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart. (Acts 2:46)

This was a direct fulfillment of our Master's prayer, that they may be one, just as We are one ... that the world may know that you sent Me and have loved them... But where is the fulfillment of His prayer today? Where are the disciples who are one just as the Father and the Son are one, without any hint of division or disagreement? Where are those who love one another without reserve the way the early Church did? And how can the world know that God loved them enough to send His Son to die in their place?

Self-sacrificing Love

According to our Master's prayer in John 17, we must have that radical kind of unity in order to convince the world of our Father's love for them. Such unity is the very evidence that we have His love poured out in our hearts (Romans 5:5), because love does not insist on its own way (1 Corinthians 13:5). Love lays down its own life. The early church demonstrated this love by giving up their own possessions to meet their brothers' needs. The world of the first century saw their self-sacrificing love and multitudes became convinced that God loved them enough to sacrifice His Son. But what example can the world of today observe?

Is it enough that they see a few zealous individuals who dedicate their lives, or part of their lives, to missionary work? In the churches of today there are many individuals like Cindy who want to give all to Jesus. But their home church does not expect all, so they turn to the mission field. There they find an outlet for their zeal by bringing others into churches just like their home church, where all is not expected, love has its limits, and unity is merely an ideal. In their hearts they know that the sacrifice of the precious, pure blood of God's Son requires a greater response than just saying the sinner's prayer and giving tithes and offerings. But they are powerless to call anyone to that greater response, because their preaching is being supported by the tithes and offerings of the church back home where a lesser response is the norm.

God's Will for Our Lives

Just what kind of response is fitting in light of God's great love for us? As with the meaning of love, people are always trying to define His will for their lives. But they run the same risk of coming up with a definition of His will that fits in with their will. But the Word of God is clear: Our Master...

gave himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds. (Titus 2:14)

This is His will for all of His disciples, that they would be a people, purified from all the selfish motivations that divide men from one another and make their love grow cold (Mt 24:12) — that we would be fervent in our love for one another (1 Peter 1:22), devoted to one another in brotherly love (Romans 12:10), laying down our lives for one another daily (1 John 3:16; Luke 9:23). This is the normal response of those who have entered the New Covenant and it is our only hope of being controlled by God's love and not our own subtly selfish reasoning:

For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, that they who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf. (2 Corinthians 5:14-15)

This is what the Great Commission is all about:

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything that I commanded you. (Mt 28:19)

The commission that the Son of God gave was to call people to a total death of their old, independent life, so that they could receive the new life of the Son. This precious gift would enable them to live the same life of love and unity that actually resulted from this message in the first century. Saving faith is the faith that leads a person to become a disciple and obey everything the Master commanded. And He commanded (among other things) that His disciples would leave their nets and follow Him, love one another as He loved them, and lay down their lives for each other daily. He even said that no one could become His disciple unless he gave up all his own possessions (Luke 14:33).

Far from producing a seclusive community, this call to discipleship results in a life that turns the world upside down (Acts 17:6) instead of making it a better place. Without this life being lived in a people, there is no true preaching of the Good News, no light to the nations. For as John wrote in his Gospel, "In Him was life and the life was the light of men" (John 1:4). It is the light generated by this life that is the witness of which our Master spoke:

And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a witness to all the nations, and then the end shall come. (Mt 24:14)

Our Master's message must once again produce the same fruit that it did in the first century — this time extending to the entire earth.

Are you part of a people who obey His commands, daily laying down their lives as He did? Do you want to see a holy nation (1 Peter 2:9), the New Covenant Israel, established on the earth? Or would you be satisfied with a world full of isolated individuals who could all remember the date that they said the sinner's prayer?

Many of us were like Cindy, trying to understand God's will. Today she writes, "I found a people who didn't ask me to go home after a week of good feelings and nice words. They asked me to stay with them forever. It's the difference between a one-night-stand and a marriage. I'm married to a people who truly love God with all their heart, mind and strength. Isn't that what you're looking for?" We invite you to visit us at any of our Communities.