Dear Hope family,
Thought for the Week
Living for Love
1 Timothy 1v5 “The goal of this command is love.”
Many people are seeking love. Some seek it in relationships. Some seek it in projecting an image they feel will attract love from others. Some accomplish dangerous pursuits in the name of love. It is all very well to think about what others are doing, but in the words of Jesus, “What about you?”.
In the above passage in Paul’s letter to Timothy, Paul has commanded him to ensure that only sound doctrine is taught and now states that his goal is love. This may be surprising to some in our modern age where a false dichotomy is presented between “sound doctrine” and “love”. For Paul and the New Testament, love and sound doctrine go intimately together. How can this be?
- The first key doctrine Paul states in this letter is “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners – of whom I am the worst.” 1v15. This is the vital doctrine of God’s love for us while we were still sinners and the demonstration of that love in sending Jesus to death on a cross. Appreciating this truth enables us to understand the extent to which we ourselves are loved. Whether I am the worst of sinners or the best of saints, Jesus loves me so much that he died for me. Appreciating this, leads me to the position where I do not need to pursue the receipt of love in the same way from others. Rather, we allow and even cry out to God for him to “pour out his love in our hearts.”
- Secondly, Paul anticipates that God’s love in our hearts will flow out in love for God and for others. This means that the more we experience and appreciate God’s love, the more we will be able to love God and others. This is why we so often sing together of God’s love towards us. Jesus and Paul both have as the goal of their commands “love”. And so, Jesus can sum up all commands in “Love the Lord … and love your neighbour as yourself”, and further, his “new commandment” is “love one another as I have loved you.” But, because our understanding of love is deficient, we need the other commands of the Bible to help us appreciate how to express godly love.
And so, we can say that the purpose of our lives here is love. But that is not so much to receive love as to give it, while recognising that the source of my love is not me, but God.
May God continue to “pour out his love in our hearts,” and our hearts be overflowing to others with love.
With love and blessing,
Roland
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