Does the Gospel not call us to love?
The Gospel is full of words and deeds of love, peace and hope… and Christ is the greatest example of how to live and practise this love: he gave us himself.
Let us meditate together on these wonderful words of Scripture:
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)
“Love never ends.” (1 Corinthians 13:8)
“We have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.” (1 John 4:16)
“So now faith, hope and love remain; but the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13:13)
“Honour everyone. Love the brothers. Fear God. Honour the king.” (1 Peter 2:17)
“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant.” (1 Corinthians 13:4)
“Let love be without pretence. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.” (Romans 12:9)
“Love one another earnestly from a pure heart.” (1 Peter 1:22)
“I have loved you, says the Lord.” (Malachi 1:2)
“I have this against you: you have abandoned the love you had at first.” (Revelation 2:4)
“A new commandment I give to you: that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” (John 13:34)
“Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling.” (1 John 2:10)
“We have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.” (1 John 4:16)
“Let all that you do be done in love.” (1 Corinthians 16:14)
“Love one another with brotherly affection; outdo one another in showing honour.” (Romans 12:10)
“May mercy, peace and love be multiplied to you.” (Jude 2)
“What do you want? Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love in a spirit of gentleness?” (1 Corinthians 4:21)
“I therefore, a prisoner in the Lord, urge you to live in a way worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” (Ephesians 4:1-6)
“As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another if anyone has a complaint against another. As Christ has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.” (Colossians 3:12-13)
“Let no one look down on you because you are young, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith and in purity.” (1 Timothy 4:12)
“More than that, we boast even in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope; and hope does not disappoint, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” (Romans 5:3-5)
“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable; it does not think evil; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.” (1 Corinthians 13:4-8)
“For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control endurance, to endurance godliness, to godliness brotherly affection, and to brotherly affection love.” (2 Peter 1:5-7)
“If I give away all I have to feed the poor, and if I hand over my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.” (1 Corinthians 13:3)
“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.” (1 Corinthians 13:1)
“Having purified your souls by obeying the truth through the Spirit, for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart.” (1 Peter 1:22)
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)
“Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offences.” (Proverbs 10:12)
“A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for times of trouble.” (Proverbs 17:17)
“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” (1 John 4:7-8)
“I have this against you: you have abandoned the love you had at first.” (Revelation 2:4)
“Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength. Keep these words that I command you today in your heart. Teach them to your children and speak of them when you sit in your house, when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you rise.” (Deuteronomy 6:4-7)
“Jesus said to him: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” (Matthew 22:37-39)
“For the love of Christ controls us, because we are convinced that one has died for all, and therefore all have died; and he died for all, so that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who died and was raised for them.” (2 Corinthians 5:14-15)
“Only be very careful to observe the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the Lord gave you: to love the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to keep his commandments, to hold fast to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.” (Joshua 22:5)
“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 14:23-24)
“Let your heart be wholly true to the Lord our God, walking in his statutes and keeping his commandments, as at this day.” (1 Kings 8:61)
Prepared by Rita of the Sawt El Rab team
