The Greatest of These: Understanding and Living Out God's Love

Love stands as the pinnacle of all virtues. The Apostle Paul declared that when all else fades away, three things will remain: faith, hope, and love—but the greatest of these is love. During this season of Advent, as we remember God's ultimate expression of love through sending His Son into the world, we're invited to explore what it truly means to both receive and give love.

The Foundation: Knowing Before Loving

Before we can genuinely love God, we must first know Him. This journey begins with hearing about Him, making a decision to follow Him, and placing our faith in Him. The Apostle Paul outlined this progression beautifully in Romans 10:14: "How are they to call on the one they have not believed in? And how are they to believe in the one that they have not heard of? And how are they to hear without someone preaching to them?"

This creates a sacred responsibility for those who already know God's love. We become the messengers, the ones who share the good news of God's love with a world desperately needing to hear it. The Christmas season offers a unique opportunity—people's hearts are more open to conversations about Jesus than at almost any other time of year. The question becomes: Will we accept the invitation to share?

The journey continues as people hear, engage, and eventually believe. Like the disciples who followed John the Baptist and encountered Jesus for the first time, we're invited to "come and see." Faith doesn't develop in isolation; it grows through encounter and experience. And as faith grows, so does our capacity to love.

Receiving Love: The Necessary First Step

We cannot give what we haven't received. Understanding the depth of God's love for us becomes essential before we can truly love Him back or love others well.

Consider these three profound expressions of God's love:

While We Were Still Sinners: Romans 5:8 reminds us that God demonstrated His love for us in that while we were still sinners—His enemies—Christ died for us. This isn't a love earned through good behavior or righteous living. This is radical, undeserved, incomprehensible love.

Adopted as Children: First John 3:1 invites us to marvel at the kind of love the Father has given us, that we should be called God's children. Adoption into God's family isn't a minor detail; it's a complete transformation of identity. We were once outside His family, and now we belong. We are sons and daughters of the Most High God.

The Gift of Eternal Life: John 3:16 captures the essence of God's love: "For this is the way God loved the world. He gave his one and only son so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life." This is love that sacrifices, love that saves, love that extends beyond this temporary existence into eternity.

Imagine standing before an ocean of God's love with only a thimble in hand. How do we fully embrace, understand, and experience love so vast? The answer lies in prayer—asking God to increase our capacity to be loved by Him. We need divine help even to receive the love He freely offers. This becomes a daily prayer: "God, help me know your love better. Let it saturate my mind and my heart."

The Response: Love Through Obedience

The ancient command from Deuteronomy echoes through scripture: "Love the Lord your God with all of your heart and with all of your soul and with all of your mind and with all of your strength, and love your neighbor as yourself."

But what does loving God actually look like in practice?

Deuteronomy 7:9 provides clarity: God keeps covenant faithfulness "to those who love him and keep his commandments." Throughout scripture, love and obedience are inextricably linked. Jesus Himself declared in John 14:15, "If you love me, you will obey my commandments."

This isn't about legalistic rule-following or earning God's approval. Rather, obedience becomes the natural expression of a heart transformed by love. When we truly grasp how much God loves us, obeying Him becomes our joy, not our burden. Giving back through tithes and offerings becomes an excitement rather than an obligation. Walking in His ways becomes the path we want to follow.

Faith plus love shows itself in obedience. These three elements work together, creating a life that honors God and reflects His character.

The Beautiful Cycle: Loving God and Loving Others

First John 5:1-2 reveals a beautiful mathematical truth: "Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been fathered by God, and everyone who loves the Father loves the child fathered by Him. By this we know that we love the children of God: whenever we love God and obey His commandments."

Here's the remarkable cycle: If we love the Father, we must love His children—our brothers and sisters in Christ. And how do we love His children? By loving the Father and obeying His commandments. This divine orchestration means that when we choose to love God, we're simultaneously loving each other. And when we try to love each other well, the best way to do so is by loving God and obeying Him.

We're called to love in expanding circles: God's people, our own families, our neighbors (including those different from us), and even our enemies. We love all of them, though not all in the same way.

The Standard: First Corinthians 13

The litmus test of love appears in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7. Love is patient and kind. It doesn't envy, brag, or puff itself up. It isn't rude or self-serving. It doesn't get easily angered or become resentful. It doesn't celebrate injustice but rejoices in truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.

Let's be honest: This standard is impossible.

Reading through this list should humble every one of us. Some characteristics might come naturally, while others expose our deepest struggles. Perhaps patience comes easily, but envy creeps in. Maybe kindness flows freely, but anger flares quickly. This impossibility drives us back to prayer.

We need God's help to love people this way—consistently, genuinely, sacrificially. This should become part of our daily conversation with God: "Help me not to envy. Help me not to be self-serving. Help me to be patient when I'm frustrated. Help me to be kind when I'm tired."

This isn't just about being nice to telemarketers or holding our tongue in traffic. This is about every interaction, every relationship, every moment—with family members who frustrate us, coworkers who annoy us, spouses who disappoint us, children who disobey us. In all these moments, we're called to reflect God's love.

The Truth: We Need Christ

We can do nothing apart from Christ. We cannot love people properly without Him. We cannot even experience God's love fully without His help. His love is such an extraordinary miracle that we need divine assistance to feel it, understand it, and trust in it.

Love is also a decision. We choose to love people, and then we ask God to empower that choice. We make the commitment, and He provides the strength.

Moving Forward

This Advent season, as we celebrate God's love expressed through sending Jesus into the world, we're invited to a transformative journey. We're called to experience God's love more deeply, allowing it to saturate every part of our being. As we absorb His love, we become capable of loving others in increasingly genuine and sacrificial ways.

The question isn't whether we understand love perfectly or execute it flawlessly. The question is: Will we open ourselves to receive God's love more fully? Will we ask Him to increase our capacity to be loved by Him? Will we pray for the power to love others as He has loved us?

Love never fails. And the God who is love invites us to participate in His nature, sharing His love with a world desperate to experience it. This week, may we be changed by loving God and loving people—one decision, one prayer, one interaction at a time.