What's Love Got To Do With It?

What's Love Got To Do With It?

1 John 3:11 For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another.

Those of you who are at least 40 years old, remember the song what's Love Got to Do with it?  In this song Tina Turner made the case for love being a second hand emotion.

Yet, in this book of 1 John, John makes a strong case for love being the most important thing that a Christian should do.  Listen to what he says: We should love one another.

John reminds us that Being a Christian is not only a name that the world calls us, but it is a requirement to be something as well.  The requirement is to be Loving Towards one another.

And no wonder, John was merely repeating the command of Jesus when he said:  “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

So What's love got to do with it?

1. Love is a requirement  for Christian Faith.

You cannot call yourself a Christian without love.

John 13:35

By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another

2. Love keeps us from murdering one another.

1 John 3:15 Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.

Notice that John said, when we don't love, we have become murderers

  We back bite.  We hold grudges. We practice treachery.

3. Love causes us to give up our own selfish ambitions and share what we have.

1 John 3:17 But whoever has this world's good, and sees his brother have need, and shuts up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwells the love of God in him?

We will feed the hungry.  We will give sacrificially.