Articles
Loving Yourself and Other Because of God
The body is dependent on oxygen to live just as the Bible tells us that the soul requires a relationship with God to eternally live. Love, like the soul, is dependent on having a relationship with God because He is love (1 John 4:8). Thus, a person can only live with true love in their heart if they abide by Jesus’ teachings (1 John 4:9-11). People are taught to recognize the images of different emergency authorities. As a result, they will know who they can turn to for help. Christians need to grow in their relationship with God. Consequently, God will be established as the authority to always seek. Having a relationship with the God who unconditionally loves you is the only way you can strive to love unconditionally.
Your relationship with God is key in loving yourself and others unconditionally because it teaches the value of each unique soul. God created you to have unique strengths when encouraging others and glorifying Him. Paul in 1 Corinthians 12 compares the church to a human body. A body is made up of many different parts, just like the church is made up of many individuals (1 Cor. 12:14). A finger or foot serves the body with its own strengths in the same way you encourage others and glorify God with yours (1 Cor. 12:18-19). At the end of the chapter Paul states that the purpose of this diversity is not to cause division or pride in oneself, but to expand the love for God and one another. God intended that the section of the letter to the Corinthians which is focused on God-given diversity is used as a bridge into the portion that is focused on Godly love.
Love is often described by the world as an emotion that is created by the actions toward you by someone. This would mean that love would be reliant on imperfect beings, instead of the perfect God. Biblical love is described as a continuous action that creates emotions, rather the other way around. 1 Peter 3:1 uses marriage as one example to show that Godly love is unconditional and brings others closer to God. Biblical love requires that you’re pleasing and glorifying God above all else. Acting on Godly love doesn’t involve taking abuse or disciplining harshly. Whether you are rebuking, teaching, nurturing, and correcting it should all be done in a righteous way that is a pleasing aroma to God (1 Cor. 13:4-8).
Jesus clarified the righteous way perfectly when He said to a Pharisee, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:34-40 ESV)
