What Does It Take To Love? – Part 1
David W Palmer
We all know that love is an amazing feeling—a very powerful emotion. The Song of Solomon says:
(Song of Songs 8:6 NKJV) “ … love is as strong as death ...”
Love is indeed a forceful feeling; it is a dynamic motivation that can be as strong as death in many ways: on one hand, it can displace the fear of death for a mother desperate to rescue a child in peril, or empower the readiness of a soldier willing to lay his life down for “king and country.” On the other hand, the jealousy stirred up by love-denied through—say, adultery—is as strong as death in that it can be willing to kill.
However in the following passage, we see that the choices involved in love are also related to “life”—eternal life!
(Luke 10:25–28 NKJV) And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” {26} He said to him, “What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?” {27} So he answered and said, “‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself’.” {28} And He said to him, “You have answered rightly; do this and you will live.”
Despite the weird motivation behind the lawyer’s question, some very interesting and convicting truths come out of this conversation.
It begins with a, “do,” question: “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” In answer, Jesus immediately responded with: “love!” That’s what he said we have to do to receive eternal life: “‘you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’” “Do this and you will live (have life).”
Next, in what proved to be the perfect leading question for Jesus—one that allowed him to be very instructional to us all—the lawyer asked:
(Luke 10:29 NKJV) But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
His motivation was “off” (he wanted to “justify himself”); but again, his question opened the way for Jesus to coach us all.
Before looking at Jesus’s answer, let’s recap what we have seen so far. The key question: “What must I ‘do’ to inherit eternal life?” The answer from Jesus: “love” God and neighbour. The next question was, “Who is my neighbour?” If Jesus could clarify this for the lawyer, he could “do” the love-your-neighbour part. I summarize all of this as, “What does it take to receive eternal life?” Or, to make it a little more close to home: “What does it take to love your neighbour?” (Don’t read on if you are not in the mood for some very confronting truths!)
(Luke 10:30–33 NKJV) Then Jesus answered and said: “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. … But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion.”
In answer to the lawyer’s question, Jesus began to tell the story of the Good Samaritan. We are probably all familiar with it, so I will get down to the heart of the issue. In this story, Jesus not only tells us who our neighbour is, but what it takes to “love” him. Are you ready for some keys to inheriting eternal life? Here is what it takes:
1. Compassion (verse 33).
(Luke 10:34 NKJV) “So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.”
In this verse we also see:
2. First Aid. He was trained; he knew how to bandage wounds, and he knew what to apply to them. At the inn, he also knew how to take care of him.
3. Resourced. He had an animal, plus he had wine and oil to spare. He had wealth (defined as the items money can buy, not the money): he could pay for an inn—for himself and for the man he was helping.
Believe it or not, to love in the way that Jesus said is needed to inherit eternal life, we must have compassion. In addition, we need to get ourselves trained and resourced. This takes effort; and it requires stretching, gift development, and being good with finances.
I don’t know about you, but I find this very challenging: Would I know how to administer first aid to an injured man? Do I have the resources necessary for his ongoing care? How about you? One thing I do know is that I want to inherit eternal life; so while I can, I will have to make sure I can comply with what Jesus is asking of me here. (More on this tomorrow)