Who cared for the plague-stricken populations of the first and second centuries? Christians did! Who buried the pagan dead? Christians did! Who opened the first hospital in Europe? Gallincanus, a Christian, did! Who gave his life to stop the brutality in the Roman arena? Telemachus, a Christian, did! Who organized life for the lepers in the fourth century? Christians did! In the first six centuries of Christianity’s existence it was the social concern of Christians who made the Christian church a powerhouse of love.
All of this was made possible because “God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Yes, He who hung the stars in place, and holds the world in His hands, demonstrated His love for us by sending His Son, Jesus, the Christ. By His life, His teaching, His death on a Roman cross, and finally through the lives of His followers, He seeks to demonstrate His love.
This is what the apostle John taught: “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God, and knows God” (I John 4:7-8). Such concepts did not just appear out of thin air. They were born out of companionship with Jesus Christ. In I Corinthians 13 the apostle Paul penned the greatest hymn of love ever written, not because he was the greatest lover, but because he knew the world’s greatest lover, Jesus Christ.
Over sixty years as a Christian pastor have taught me that love is the strongest building force in the entire world. Hate warps. Envy corrodes. Greed corrupts. Jealousy distorts. Bitterness shrinks. Lust defiles. Evil decays and destroys. It is obvious to any keenly observant person that these things are true. We know that we are at our best and truest selves when we spread love around like sunshine. Love heals life’s hurts. It straightens and strengthens. It cleanses and corrects. It builds and beautifies. It transforms death into life, sorrow into gladness, defeat into victory, and draws us nearer to one another and also nearer to God.
Love is never satisfied with the status quo. It contains within its very nature an urge in the direction of perfection. This is why Jesus said, “You . . . must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). Love is not satisfied with that which is “good” if it can be made better, and it seeks to move beyond that which is “better” to that which is “best.”
To love only those who love us is self-centered by its very nature. That has always been the law of the jungle! But to love those who are unlovely, to love those who misunderstand and hurt us – that is to be Christian. So convinced was Jesus of the power of love that He prayed forgiveness from the cross upon those who drove the nails through his hands and feet. And before He died He promised personal companionship with a convict on the cross beside Him.
It is the will of God that those who follow Him make love the outstanding characteristic of their personality and conduct. Love, intelligent Christian love, is socially conscious. It opens its eyes to injustices and wrongs in both its immediate environment and in the entire world. It does not turn a blind eye to people living in slums or to the slums that exist on the inside of people.
If God is love, and He is, then Christ is God’s love letter to the world, God’s Valentine! Christ is God’s invitation to any person who walks in darkness to come to His Son to find life that lasts an eternity. God’s love begins to transform our lives the moment we accept Jesus Christ, God’s Son, as both Savior and Lord. It continues to transform our lives through spiritual growth and as we share it with others. It is why the apostle Paul said, “Now abides faith, hope, and love, these three; but the greatest of these is love” (I Corinthians 13:13).
The Paper Pulpit 
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