Session 1 - Learning to Love One Another

In life we have many goals, some involve money, others are about relationships, and still others are about our spiritual journey. As mentioned in the previous lesson, true spirituality involves loving others. In fact, the Bible states that “God is love.” This is an interesting concept, but how do we define what love is? Usually, we use word labels to define love. As 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 states, “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 wrong-doing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. Love never ends.” These words create a picture in our minds of what true love is about. Another passage that shows what love is like is Galatians 5:22-23. It says, “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace. Patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” These beautiful words illustrate that when we walk in the Spirit, we meet the obligations of loving others.
These passages show that love’s source is God, and as the Spirit of God transforms and renews our minds, we become more loving in our nature and respond to the people around us. This reminds us that love needs to be genuine. Not a fanned emotion; but a true spiritual expression of God’s love being channeled through us. Not a love that comes from within us; but a love that comes straight from the heart of God. Our responsibility is to walk close to God, so that his presence saturates our lives with his character and our hearts rejoice that our ability to love others is not dependent on who we are, but on who God is. As the writer of 2 Chronicles 22:21 asserts, “Give thanks to the Lord, for his steadfast love endures forever.” We do not know how to love, so we need to keep our spiritual eyes focused on God. How do you think you can do this? (See Hebrews 12:1-2).
Jesus is the greatest expression of God’s love for us: “For God so loved the world he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). God’s love is responsive to people’s needs. How does your live show this type of love for others? For us, love is not a natural expression of our natures. We tend to be preoccupied with ourselves and our desires. In order to express the love of God, we need God in our lives. We need to make this our main objective! The great missionary Paul put it well, when he wrote, “The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and in a sincere faith” (1 Timothy 1: 5). These traits of love only come from a life dedicated to prayer, the Word of God, and fellowship. It is a life that is connected to God and others through the power of the Holy Spirit of God, and by having a sensitive heart to those around us. This type of compassion and loving kindness only comes from a mind saturated with godly thoughts and truth. The light that illuminates our hearts and that gives us direction is based on a life that is interactive with God, and has a vision of the Kingdom of God, which comes from “walking in the Light” and the “practice of truth” (1 John 1:5-9).