Jesus tells us that we are to love the Lord our God with all our hearts, souls, minds, and all our strength. Second, we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. But what does that actually look like? After all, many people believe that love is a chemical, an emotion, or a feeling. To be sure, there is some level of truth to that. However, is that idea biblical? Not really.
It would be almost impossible to love God and others as we are commanded if love is an emotion or a chemical. Love cannot be only those things if we are to love like God commands us to. After all, scripture doesn’t tell us to love God and others when we feel like it. Rather, he tells us to do it always and no matter the circumstance. What, then, does it mean to love God and others? Well, love is, quite simply, theology applied.
Love is, quite simply, theology applied.
L. J. Anderson
Now, I’m sure I just lost quite a few of you so let me explain. Theology is the study of God. I’m sure we can all agree on that. That said, it is theology that gives us the knowledge that we are to love God and others and it is theology that gives us how we are to love God and others. John 14:15 says,
If you love me, you will keep my commandments
John 14:15, ESV
Verses 21-24 say,
“Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.”
John 14:21-24
Basically, love of God is demonstrated by our obedience to him and his commands which means that we need to know what he expects of us so we are to love God by being obedient to him.
But what about the love of others? What does that look like? Well, John also gives us the answer to that. In 1 John 5:1-3, he says,
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome
1 John 5:1-3
Did you catch that? It’s the exact same requirement as loving God. We are to obey the commandments of God. That is the demonstration of our love for others. He even repeats this in 2 John 1:5-6.
Therefore, if loving God is obeying his commands, and loving others is also obeying his commands, and the way that we learn what those commandments are is through studying God (i.e., theology), then love is theology applied.
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L. J. Anderson - Author and Blogger 