Why LOVE is The Greatest Command?

What Is Love?

The Dictionary definition of love is, “a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person; a feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection, as for a parent, child, or friend.”

But how does this compare to the Biblical definition of love? 

“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 or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1 Corinthians 13:4-7).

What Does the Bible Say about Romantic Love?

In Ephesians 5, the Apostle Paul writes about how a husband and wife ought to show appropriate love to one another beyond the romance. Often men and women struggle to show one another affection and love, in part because they show and receive love differently.

To husbands, Paul reminds them to, “...love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” (Ephesians 5:25). Wives are reminded to respect their husbands in verse 33 of the same chapter, “...and let the wife see that she respects her husband.”

What Does the Bible Say about Familial Love?

Within the family, love begins with husband and wife, and passes onto their children. Within the family unit, the children are to show their love by obedience to their parents. One of the Ten Commandments is to “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you” (Exodus 20:12). 

Love, discipline, and respect are the foundations for a strong family, where children learn to love others. It is in the family that future generations learn how to love, and so parents define what real love looks like for their children, a serious responsibility. 

Why Is Love the Greatest Command?

Beyond love that conforms to the image of God, of the greatest virtues - faith, hope, and love - the one that will last through eternity is LOVE.

God is love and His love endures forever. If love defines God, and shall last forever, then we should strive to seek and show that love.

1 John 4:19 sums it up well: “We love because He first loved us.” All love among all people exists because God loves us first. 

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