The Essence of Love [1]

by Dustin Shramek


I. The greatest commandment (Mark 12:29-30).

A. What does it mean to love God with all our heart? All our soul? All our mind? All our strength?

B. Is not the command of Psalm 37:4 an essential aspect of what it means to love God?

C. We honor God by loving Him, but is loving God for duty's sake honoring to God?


II. The second greatest commandment (Mark 12:31).

A. How does God love?

  1. Jeremiah 9:23-24
    1. What does the Lord exercise?
    2. Why does He exercise these things?
  2. John 3:16
    1. Why did God send His Son?
    2. How did God feel about sending Christ to the cross (Isaiah 53:10)?
  3. In Ephesians 1:4-5, Paul says that God predestined us in love. In Luke 12:32, Jesus says, “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.” What does this say about the love with which we were predestined?
  4. Why do you think God delights in love?

B. Is love more than a feeling?

  1. John 15:12-13.
  2. Ephesians 5:25.

C. Is love more than actions?

  1. Love cannot be equated with any particular act (1 Corinthians 13:3).
  2. The question arises, “Should we have disinterested benevolence toward men or should we pursue our joy in those relationships?”
  3. Micah 6:8.
    1. What three things are we commanded to do?
    2. We aren't merely to be kind, rather we are to love kindness.
    3. What does it mean to love kindness?
  4. 1 Corinthians 13:6.
    1. What does love love?
    2. What does it mean to rejoice? Isn't enjoying something gain?
  5. 2 Corinthians 9:6-7.
    1. What does it mean to be a cheerful giver?
  6. Love is more than feelings, but not less than feelings.

D. “The pursuit of pleasure is an essential motive for every good deed.” [2]

  1. 1 Corinthians 13:1-3.
    1. What is the result of loveless tongues (v. 1)?
      1. A paraphrase of verse 1, “When you speak with tongues of men and of angels, have love, so that you will be a pleasant melody to others.”
    2. What is the result of loveless prophecy, knowledge, and faith (v. 2)?
      1. “When you give prophecy and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and have great faith, have love also, so that you are something.”
    3. What is the result of loveless actions (v. 3)?
      1. “When you give all your possessions to feed the poor, and deliver your body to be burned, do it in love so that you will profit greatly.”
    4. Paul is saying in verse 3 that our gain is a proper motive for love. If Paul were an altruist [3] why would he be concerned about not profiting?

E. What about 1 Corinthians 13:5, “love does not seek its own...”

  1. 1. How should we interpret this verse?
    1. 1 Corinthians 10:24, 33.
      1. Whose good are we to seek?
      2. What would it mean to seek our own good over someone else's?
    2. 1 Thessalonians 2:20.
      1. Does Paul have disinterested benevolent thoughts toward the Thessalonians?
    3. 2 Corinthians 1:23-2:4.
      1. What is Paul worker with the Corinthians for (1:24)?
      2. Why doesn't Paul want to cause them sorrow (2:2)?
      3. What is Paul's joy (2:3)?
      4. In all of this, what is Paul trying to convey to the Corinthians (2:4)?
      5. What then, does it mean for us to love others?
    4. So we see that love doesn't pursue private joy, but it does pursue joy in the good of others. “Love does not seek its own...” doesn't mean that we don't pursue joy in love, rather it means that we don't pursue our joy selfishly. My joy in loving comes from doing good to others. This joy should be sought.

F. A Biblical example of seeking joy in loving others: 2 Corinthians 8:1-4.

  1. Four components of love. [4]
    1. Whose work is love (v. 1)? It is a work of divine grace.
    2. What does experiencing God's grace do to someone (v. 2)?
    3. What does joy in God's grace lead to (v. 2)?
    4. Did the Macedonians give begrudgingly (vv. 3-4)? The joy of being filled with God's grace overflowed so that they wanted to give, it was a joy for them to give.

G. A definition of love, “Love is the overflow of joy in God which gladly meets the needs of others.” [5]

H. Seek reward in all that you do.

  1. Acts 20:35.
    1. What two commands does Paul give to the Ephesians here?
    2. Why should we remember that giving brings us a blessing?
  2. Luke 6:35.
    1. What incentive does Jesus give us for loving our enemies?
  3. Hebrews 10:32-35.
    1. Why did they receive “a great conflict of sufferings”?
    2. How did they show their love to the prisoners?
    3. What enable them to show such great acts of love?
  4. Hebrews 11:24-26.
    1. How was Moses shown to be loving the Israelites?
    2. Why was he able to love them so radically as to give up the treasures of Egypt?
  5. Hebrews 12:2.
    1. The cross is the greatest display of love in the history of the world. What enabled Jesus to endure such great sorrow and pain?

Notes

Footnotes

[1]1 Most of this Bible study is from: John Piper, Desiring God (Sisters, OR: Multnomah Books, 1996), chapter 4, “Love: The Labor of a Christian Hedonist.”

[2]2 John Piper, Desiring God, p. 97.

[3]3 An altruist is one who does good for the sake of duty. They see what good thing needs to be done and then they do it because it is good, regardless of how they feel about it. The German philosopher, Immanuel Kant, was a very influential altruist. He went so far as to say that if one's motive for helping the poor was because they enjoyed it, their act would have no moral worth.

[4]4 Piper, Desiring God, pp. 102-103.

[5]5 Piper, Desiring God, p. 103.

 

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