Love is emphasized in the Bible. The holy script is almost a dissertation on love. “God is love” (1 John 4:8) and we cannot know Him except through the word (cf. Matthew 11:27; 1 John 1:1-4). It is through the word that we learn “that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him” (1 John 4:9) as a means of manifesting His love toward us.

This should cause us to show love to each other. Why? “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another” (1 John 4:10-11). This love is not expressed in word or tongue only, “but in deed and truth” (1 John 3:18) just as Christ laid down His life for us (cf. 1 John 3:16).

Love is something we must diligently work on exemplifying (cf. 1 Corinthians 13). It is not independent of choice, but independent of outward circumstances. We must love at all costs! For, “If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And the commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also” (1 John 4:20-21). Let us love one another!