The world has a different view of love as far as God is concerned. Here are 5 examples of love found in Scripture.
Jesus on the Cross – Luke 23:34
The world has a different view of love as far as God is concerned. Here are 5 examples of love found in Scripture. The first example is where Jesus asked the Father to forgive those who were nailing Him to the cross. This account should help you learn that love includes forgiveness. We can’t say we love someone but refuse to forgive them. Talk about forgiveness! Remember when “Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34a). The amazing grace displayed by Jesus Christ on the cross may have been the deciding factor of the thief on the cross’s belief. Earlier, both men had been hurling insults (Mark 15:29-32), but something happened to one of the men on the cross after he heard Jesus ask God to forgive those who were crucifying Him. Who does that! Only God does and that love of God Jesus showed was enough to persuade the thief to cry out to be saved…and he was.
The Apostle John on Love – 1 John Chapter 3:11
John describes that love is more than words…it is words backed up by deeds. Reading 1 John we can read how love is more than what you say…it is what you do. This shows that love is a verb; it’s what we do. It is much more than a feeling. One way we know we’re God’s children is by the way we love others and love one another in the church. If we say we love God but hate our brothers, we’re deceiving ourselves and we are not His children, but “We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death” (1 John 3:14). To love one another is not just a suggestion; it is a command (1 John 3:11, 23), but it separates the wheat from the chaff (1 John 3:24).
Abraham and Isaac – Genesis Chapter 22:3
Love was displayed by Abraham’s obedience, even to the point of being willing to sacrifice his own son Isaac. Abraham showed that he really loved God by doing what God asked him to do, even to the extreme. We find this account in Genesis 22 where we read that “Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him” (Gen 22:3). Abraham didn’t try to talk God out of it or delay, but got up early and went, just as God commanded. He did what God asked him to do and that was to sacrifice his one and only son, just what God the Father would do some centuries later…and in the exact same spot that Abraham offered up Isaac. The difference is, God told Abraham just before he was to plunge the knife into Isaac, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me” (Gen 22:12). Abraham obeyed God, even to the extreme and this obedience is an attribute of love; of self-sacrificial love.
The Woman and her Perfume – Mark Chapter 14:8-9
Many people do good things to be seen or to find favor, but many people do good things for God that no one knows about. In the case of the woman who anointed Jesus, most people thought that it was a terrible waste of money. If you realize just how much this woman gave in pouring out her box of ointment on Jesus, you will understand why Jesus said this woman’s sacrificial love would be spoken of throughout the world, and it has been through the gospels. Prior to Jesus crucifixion, the Lord said, “she has anointed my body beforehand for burial” (Mark 14:8), and this anointing, which seemed wasteful to the others, allowed her to leave her mark in history, for the Lord says of her selfless act that, “wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her” (Mark 14:9). That was just fulfilled…again…by our reading this account.
Ruth and Naomi – Ruth Chapter 1:16
Hard times sometimes separate even the best of friends, but not so with Ruth. When famine hit the land, Naomi had to move to search for a near-relative, just so she could survive, but when Ruth was told to go back, “Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God” (Ruth 1:16). Ruth did not abandon Naomi in her widowhood, but rather promised Naomi that her people would be “My people,” and her God would be “my God.” The story of God’s divine providence shows that even those considered outsiders can be loved by God and adopted into the family of God. There are no outsiders as far as God is concerned for those who have trusted in Jesus Christ. We know that there is neither male or female, Jew or Greek or any other difference (Gal 3:28). If there are differences, we’ve put them there…not God.
Conclusion
Before we end, it is my hope and deep desire that you have already trusted in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. If not, then I have terrible news for you. Jesus Christ will be your Judge and not your Savior, so today, I plead with you to repent of your sins. Do it right here and right now. Put your trust in Savior. If you do not, as surely as the sun rose this morning, you will face God’s judgment after death (Heb 9:27) or at Christ’s appearance (Rev 20:12-15), whichever happens first. That is not my desire or God’s desire than any perish apart from Christ (2 Pet 3:9).
Here is some related reading for you: Bible Verses About Love – 25 Awesome Scripture Quotes
Resource – Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), Crossway Bibles. (2007). ESV: Study Bible: English standard version. Wheaton, Ill: Crossway Bibles. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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