Love Is Not Optional

I have been studying the topic of love for a couple of months.

This weekend, I will be speaking in church about the topic of love from the book of I John, Chapter 4. In my studies, I have come to a few conclusions that opened my eyes a bit. The one I want to write about today is this:  Love is not optional.

Of course, love is optional, you might say. It is something we choose to do, or not. Love is voluntary, you might insist. Love is what we do, and why we do it; of course we have a choice in who we love, and who we don't, right?

I say wrong.

The Bible says love is not optional; not for Christians.

I John 4:13 says this: We know that we live in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His spirit. I John 4:8 and 16 both say, God is love. If God lives in us (Christians), and God is love, how is love a choice? Again in verse 15: If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. Verse 16 again: God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.

Tell me again how love is optional? Tell me again how we get to choose whether or not we are going to love?

Not convinced?

Let's try verse I John 4:19 and 20: We love because He first loved us. If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.

If you don't love your brother (fellow Christians), you cannot love God. If you say you do, John says you are a liar. You cannot love God if you do not love your brothers and sisters. Why? Because God is love. Without God, you cannot love. On the other hand, with God, you cannot help but love because God is love.

The Greek word that English translates as "love" used in I John is agape. Agape love is a selfless, giving kind of love that seeks the highest good of the other person. It is not brotherly love. It is not friendship love. It is putting the good of the other person above your own. It is Do unto others as you would have done unto you. It is Love your neighbor as yourself. It is a love we are not capable of on our own because God is agape love. Without God, there is no agape love. 

If, however, you are a Christian, then God lives within you. God, who is agape love, indwells you. If agape loves lives within you, you will have agape love for others. We love because He first loved us.

Love is not optional.

Love is a command.

The last verse of I John Chapter 4 says this: And He has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother. In case you're not aware, the "He" spoken of there is none other than Jesus Christ.

Love is not a choice. Love is not an option. Love is something we are compelled to do if God lives within us. Love is something we are commanded to do by our Lord and Savior. Love is something we are called to do throughout the Bible.

You will love.

If you are a Christian, you will love. You will love your sons and daughters, your spouse, your mother and your father, and all your brothers and sisters in Christ. And then, when you get that all figured out, you'll deal with Christ's command to love your enemies.

If you are a Christian, you will love.

And that is not optional.