Loving Others

You do well when you complete the Royal Rule of the Scripture: "Love others as you love yourself" (James 2:8 MSG).

In this passage of scripture, James was commending those believers who practiced the Royal Rule of loving their neighbors as they did themselves. They loved others because they understood that God's desire for them to love others is actually a command and not a suggestion or request. The grammatical structure of the phrase “love others” is imperative (mood) as in do it or as in it is necessary. According to Jesus, it is by our love for others that the world knows that we are Christians or disciples. “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another” (John 13: 35 KJV). Loving others is the highest act of all Christianity for it ultimately imitates the actions and attributes of Christ. “A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another” (John 13:34 KJV).

Sadly, as Christians we do not all love others as we love ourselves. As with some of the believers in James' time period, our love is biased. John MacArthur, the great expository preacher, said in his interpretation of this passage that some of the Christians were "partial". They loved when it was convenient, and even then they loved only the popular, prestigious and prominent. When you say to the man in the suit, “Sit here, sir; this is the best seat in the house!" and either ignore the street person or say, "Better sit here in the back row ...” you have despised the poor" (James 2). Favoritism in love is not of God, and as followers of Christ we cannot choose whom we will love. In fact, Jesus insisted that we love our enemies and pray for those who despitefully use us (see Mt 5).

One of the running jokes around my home is to respond with “thank you” when someone says that they love you. Perhaps you have to be there to fully appreciate the humor of these exchanges, but it really is a glorious thing to be loved and it should generate feelings of appreciation. Yes, I’m aware that the expected response to someone’s expression of love for you is “I love you too”, but occasionally we should add a “thank you” especially if we understand love from a Godly point of view.

God’s love, agape, is an unconditional love reflected in extreme acts of kindness. The love of God is selfless and sacrificial. It is a love often expressed and demonstrated when the recipient may not be deserving of love. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16 KJV).

So, let us make a concerted effort to practice loving others. Frankly, it will not be easy to love everybody especially those whom we may consider challenging. However, the Royal Rule doesn’t say love when it is easy, appropriate or expedient, but love others as you love yourself. Go ahead, try it, and you just might hear someone say thank you: thank you for loving me beyond my faults, failures and foolishness. And even if you never actually hear anyone say thank trust that God will say thank you, you are doing well. "You do well when you complete the Royal Rule...."(James 2:8 MSG)

Prayer: Lord, help me to love like you that I will love beyond how others are acting and behaving. I want to display a love that gives even when it does not receive. Let me love until others say thank you and until you say thank you and well done. Loving others is now my lifelong goal, in Jesus' Name. Amen.

God's Peace and Good Journey!
+t. anthony bronner