The New Testament boldly declares that “God is love” (1 John 4:8) and that we as human beings love because “We have first been loved.” Jesus, drawing on the Old Testament, stated that the two great commandments are to love God and our neighbor. Paul completed his beautiful hymn in 1 Corinthians 13 with the conclusion that love is the greatest of the trilogy of faith, hope, and love. Our Christian faith rests on the foundation of the God who so loved the world that this loving God made possible our reconciliation through Jesus Christ (John 3:16).

Without question the word “love” sums up and depicts the essence of our Christian faith. Nonetheless, most Christians struggle in a world often filled with problems, difficulties, suffering, pain, crime, war, and hatred with how to believe, understand, and live by this high standard of love. To love in the face of anger and hatred, fear and dread, cruelty and injustice, misunderstanding and rejection often seems not only difficult but elusive, if not impossible. Even Christians are at times afraid to practice love for fear of ridicule, opposition, or being seen as weak, compromising, inferior, or uncourageous. Some are bold to assert that the ethic of love is unrealistic and “dated” for the modern world.

I believe that we cannot—must not—give way to this negative philosophy. Everyone longs to be loved and accepted. Without experiencing love, a person is incomplete, empty. Christians have a responsibility to define, understand, interpret, practice, and live authentically the way of love. As we mature, we are challenged to determine whom and what we love and how we will respond to the love we experience from others. Our understanding of love or, better stated, our response to love affects our very being—our selfhood. The awareness of the love our parents had for us; the love of a spouse, child, or friend; the love of grandparents or grandchildren; the love of teachers, coaches, ministers, or priests affects our attitude toward ourselves and life itself.

The awareness that God created life out of love and that the divine love came uniquely into our world through the life, ministry, suffering, and death of Jesus Christ can open our minds and enlarge our perspective of the nature of God. The God revealed in the Scriptures is not a distant, unmoved being but a God who established a community with the nation Israel out of love and entered humanity through Christ who suffered and died out of amazing grace. Our identity with this God binds us to this suffering love way of life. Having experienced such personal love from God, we in turn seek to love even as we have been loved.

The purpose of this book is to help us understand the New Testament meaning of love and incorporate this love into our thoughts, deliberations, and daily living. I do not believe it is easy, but Jesus has challenged us to move to a higher way. Jesus’ way casts a beam of light into our dark and uncertain path and provides direction, guidance, hope, encouragement, assurance, and companionship. To walk in the way of love is to be assured that the One who laid down his life in love will guide us in following the path that leads to life and life everlasting.

In his book, Agape and Eros, Anders Nygren affirms that God is Agape and that this loving God came to us in his Son. Only at the cross do we really see revealed the depth of God’s love. At the cross, God’s “heart” of pure love has been revealed, Nygren notes, and then he draws the following conclusion:

Nygren reminds us that we do not live for ourselves nor serve ourselves but follow the “law of love,” arising out of God’s nature, which directs us to become an instrument through which God’s love is transmitted to the world. As a part of God’s creation, Christians strive not to be self-serving but to find ways to share this self-giving love with others. Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross revealed the nature of God’s love and the model for how we are to live. The cross revealed the kind of love we are challenged to emulate. The fact that this love has been revealed supremely at the cross is a clear indication of the high cost it demands of those who follow Jesus. As a way of living, this sacrificial love will not be an easy path but will be the avenue of true discipleship.

I want to express a special word of appreciation to Carolyn Stice, who was my secretary at St. Matthews Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky, for ten years. She saw this material through several drafts. I appreciate her secretarial competence and support for this study. Helen Crenshaw has also assisted me in getting this final manuscript to completion. I am especially indebted to Sandra Bundick, the administrative assistant at Hampton Baptist Church in Hampton, Virginia, who helped me finish a project for which I had labored for many years. She has helped me with the final corrections and last-minute tasks.

My prayer is that we will not only understand better the meaning of love, but that we will also love like our Master Teacher.

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