Christianity Is About Love

Christianity Is About Christ, Who Commands Love

Christianity is about Christ and Christians are called by Christ to love everyone. This is made clear by Christ's commandments, as recorded in the Bible.

"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another." (John 13:38)

"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 22:37-40)

"Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you." (Luke 6:27-31)

Christianity Is Founded On Love

The first century saw the rise of Christianity and the early churches communicated by letters. Much of the New Testament of the Bible is composed of letters from the apostle Paul to the early churches. In those letters, Paul instructs early Christians that Christianity is about love over all else.

"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing." (1 Corinthians 13:1-12)

"For the commandments, 'You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,' and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law." (Romans 13:9-10)

"And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity." (Colossians 3:14)

"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." (1 Corinthians 13:13)

"For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'" (Galatians 5:14)

Salvation Comes From Love

Christians believe that God made the ultimate sacrifice for us not because we are perfect or earned it, but because God loves us.

"But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9)

"Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins." (1 Peter 4:8)

"Hatred stirs up conflict, but love covers over all wrongs." (Proverbs 10:12)

God Is Love

The ultimate source of Christianity being about love is that the Christian God is love. We are made in the in image of love and have all experienced God in some way when we have loved or been loved. We love because God's love is in us.

"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love." (1 John 4:7-8)

"So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him." (1 John 4:16)

"We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, 'I love God,' and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother." (1 John 4:19-21)

Conclusion

Is this the Christianity you know? Some people see Christians as judgmental or hypocrites, partially because there are Christians who don't show unconditional love for everyone, but Christianity isn't about condemning. It's about love and forgiveness. Where someone's focus is, that is where their heart will be. So, those Christians focused on God will be focused on love.

Have you ever been in love? Maybe it's a parent, child, sibling, friend, or spouse. What does it feel like to love, truly and deeply, wanting to protect, to cherish, to uplift, to put their needs before your own? It's wonderful, beyond description, right? See, as deep as that relationship is, it's just barely a taste of the love God has for us.

The reason Christianity is about love is because Christians believe God is love. Yes, sometimes some forget that, but who among us is perfect? The truth is that the entire basis of the salvation message is love.

Many people have this perception of the Christian God as some stern dictator who we need to somehow earn forgiveness from, that we have to become better people for Christ to accept us. However, the exact opposite is true. God freely loves us and that transforms us into better people if we let it.

We have all experienced God in some way through love and this reveals God's love for us. We did not earn this anymore than you only love your child because they did something to deserve it.

To us humans, this seems unfair, which is why we try to change God to fit our views. Who would love sinful, hurtful people? Wouldn't free love remove an insensitive to change?

That's the beauty of Christianity. God's love is free and really that's the only way we can change. When we truly feel loved unconditionally, we want to be better people, to live up to all that unearned love. Of course, we'd fail on our own, so love actually makes us better people.

You've seen it: people who feel unloved becoming bitter, angry and resentful, but also people who feel loved becoming at peace and kind. Misery spreads misery and love spreads love. We are born again through Christ.

God's love has the power to transform us and make us love abundantly. How else do you think anyone could possibly keep Christ's commandments to love everyone as yourself, even to bless those who curse you or not demand back what someone takes from you? That's how amazing God's love is for us. It overflows to the point that, if we merely let God work in us, it spreads through us to everyone around us.

You don't need to earn it; it's free. You don't need to be good enough. The Creator of the entire universe knows you've made plenty of mistakes. We all have. But God forgives you anyway. How many humans can you confess your regrets to who will so easily forgive you and, more than that, help you become better so you will help people and not hurt them?

So, while Christianity is of course about Christ and the sacrifice that makes eternal redemption possible, the whole reason for any of that is love. Sure, maybe you've encountered some Christians who seem to be mimicking the religious leaders of Christ's time whom He called hypocrites, but that's not what Christianity is about. Don't judge someone by the actions of another.

If you aren't a Christian and believe Christianity is about hate, get to know Christians and especially get to know Christ. Christ is not only the path to God but also who Christians try to emulate. And, if you are a Christian who withholds love, let God open your heart through Christ to a love that will shine so brightly in you that everyone can recognize it.

Let God's love in and God's love will overflow. Like the fishes and the loaves, you can feed every soul hungry for love and still have more left over.