Learning the Excelling Way of Love

Kosovo, Lebanon, and Ireland. These are names that have often appeared in the news in recent years. They conjure up in people’s minds scenes of bloodshed, bombings, and killings. Of course, violent conflicts caused by religious, racial, ethnic, or other differences are not new. In fact, the pages of history are filled with them, and they have brought untold sufferings to mankind.

SEEING that there have been wars throughout history, many have come to the conclusion that wars are really inevitable and that it is natural for humans to hate one another. Such views, however, are entirely contrary to the teachings of God’s Word, the Bible. The Scriptures declare unequivocally: “He that does not love has not come to know God, because God is love.” (1 John 4:8) It is clear that the Creator wants humans to love one another.

The Bible also reveals that man was created in God’s image. (Genesis 1:26, 27) This means that mankind is endowed with the capacity to reflect God’s qualities, the most prominent of which is love. Since this is so, why have humans failed so miserably in showing love to one another throughout history? Again, the Bible provides insight. It is because the first human pair, Adam and Eve, rebelled against God and fell into sin. As a result, all their offspring inherited sin and imperfection. Romans 3:23 explains: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Our God-given ability to love is marred by our inherited sin and imperfection. Does this mean that humans are incapable of loving one another anymore? What hope is there that we will ever enjoy a peaceful, loving relationship with our fellowmen?

We Must Learn to Love God

Jehovah God knows that in spite of everything, mankind is still capable of showing love. That is why he requires all who want to please him to manifest love to the best of their ability. This requirement was made clear by God’s Son, Jesus Christ, when he was asked to name the greatest commandment in the Law given to Israel. He said: “‘You must love Jehovah your God with your whole heart and with your whole soul and with your whole mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment.” Then he added: “The second, like it, is this, ‘You must love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments the whole Law hangs.”​—Matthew 22:37-40.

Many people feel, however, that it is very difficult to love someone whom they cannot see, and we humans cannot see Jehovah God because he is a Spirit. (John 4:24) Still, we are affected every day by what God does, as we all depend on the many good things he created for our benefit. The apostle Paul pointed out this fact when he said: “[God] did not leave himself without witness in that he did good, giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts to the full with food and good cheer.”​—Acts 14:17.

Even though everyone benefits from the Creator’s provisions in one way or another, comparatively few are grateful to him or are moved to give thanks to him. Thus, we need to take stock of all the good things that God has done for us and to meditate on the wonderful qualities that permeate all that he does. Doing so should enable us to discern the awe-inspiring wisdom and power of our Grand Creator. (Isaiah 45:18) Above all, it should help us to see what a loving God he is, in that he not only granted us life but also made it possible for us to enjoy the many pleasures of living.

For example, think of the endless variety of beautiful flowers that God created on earth. How wonderful for us that he also endowed us with the ability to see and to derive great pleasure from these things of beauty! Similarly, God provided all sorts of nourishing food for our sustenance. How thoughtful of him that he also created in us the sense of taste so that we can experience such enjoyment from eating! Are these not eloquent proofs that God truly loves us and has our best interests in mind?​—Psalm 145:16, 17; Isaiah 42:5, 8.

Besides revealing himself to us through the “book of nature,” the Creator, through his Word, the Bible, shows us what kind of God he is. This is because in the Bible are recorded many of the loving things Jehovah God did in the past and the numerous blessings he promises to bestow upon mankind in the near future. (Genesis 22:17, 18; Exodus 3:17; Psalm 72:6-16; Revelation 21:4, 5) Above all, the Bible reveals to us the greatest expression of God’s love toward mankind​—giving his only-begotten Son to be our Redeemer so that we can be freed from the bondage of sin and death. (Romans 5:8) Indeed, the more we learn about our loving Creator, the more we are moved to love him from our heart.

Learning to Love Our Fellow Humans

As Jesus pointed out, in addition to loving God with all our heart, soul, and mind, we should love our neighbor as ourselves. In fact, the love of God obligates us to love our fellow humans. The apostle John explained: “Beloved ones, if this is how God loved us, then we are ourselves under obligation to love one another.” He further emphasized: “If anyone makes the statement: ‘I love God,’ and yet is hating his brother, he is a liar. For he who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot be loving God, whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him, that the one who loves God should be loving his brother also.”​—1 John 4:11, 20, 21.

Today we are living in a world where most people show a me-first attitude, being “lovers of themselves,” just as the Bible foretold. (2 Timothy 3:2) Therefore, if we want to learn the excelling way of love, we have to put forth serious effort to make our minds over and imitate our loving Creator, rather than follow the selfish ways of people in general. (Romans 12:2; Ephesians 5:1) God is even “kind toward the unthankful and wicked,” and he “makes his sun rise upon wicked people and good and makes it rain upon righteous people and unrighteous.” Since our heavenly Father sets such a magnificent example for us, we should strive to be kind and helpful to all. By doing so, we can prove ourselves ‘sons of our loving heavenly Father.’​—Luke 6:35; Matthew 5:45.

Sometimes such loving deeds result in helping people become worshipers of the true God. Some years ago a housewife who is one of Jehovah’s Witnesses tried to share the Bible message with her neighbor, only to be firmly rebuffed. However, she was not discouraged by the response. Instead, she continued to show kindness and tried to be helpful to the neighbor. One time she helped the neighbor move to a different house. Another time she arranged for someone to accompany the neighbor to the airport to meet the latter’s relatives. Later, the neighbor accepted a Bible study and eventually became a zealous Christian despite very severe persecution from her husband. Yes, those expressions of love laid the groundwork for everlasting blessings.

If we are honest about it, we will admit that God’s love for us is not because we have an abundance of admirable qualities. On the contrary, he loves us even though we have many faults and shortcomings. That being so, we should likewise learn to love our fellow humans despite their many failings. If we train ourselves to discern and appreciate the fine qualities of others rather than looking for their faults, we will find it much easier to feel love toward them. What we feel toward them may even go beyond the love governed by principle and include the warm affection and fondness that exists between close friends.

Letting Your Love Grow

Love and friendship need to be nurtured and cultivated, and among the essential ingredients for this are sincerity and honesty. Some try to hide their shortcomings in order to leave a favorable impression with the people they want to befriend. However, such a course often backfires, as others eventually find out the facts and are repelled by such dishonesty. Therefore, we should not be afraid to allow others to know us as we truly are​—even though we have shortcomings that we are striving to overcome. This may help to open up friendships with them.

For instance, an elderly Witness sister in a congregation in the Far East has had very little education. Yet, she never tries to hide that fact from others. She frankly admits, for example, that she is not able to demonstrate to others how to establish from Bible prophecies and history that the Gentile Times ended in 1914.a However, she sets such a fine example in zeal for the ministry, as well as in love and generosity for the brothers, that she is affectionately referred to as the jewel of the congregation.

In some cultures, showing affection openly is frowned upon; people are taught to keep up a polite formality in their dealings with others. While it is always good to be courteous and considerate, we should not allow our politeness to stifle or hide our feelings toward others. Jehovah did not feel ashamed to profess his affection for his chosen people, ancient Israel, saying to them: “With a love to time indefinite I have loved you.” (Jeremiah 31:3) Similarly, the apostle Paul told his fellow believers in Thessalonica: “Having a tender affection for you, we were well pleased to impart to you, not only the good news of God, but also our own souls, because you became beloved to us.” (1 Thessalonians 2:8) So as we endeavor to cultivate genuine affection for fellow humans, it is more in keeping with Bible teaching to let such feelings be naturally expressed rather than suppressed.

Continued Effort Required

Learning to feel and to show love toward others is an ongoing process. Doing so requires much effort on our part because we have to work hard to overcome our own imperfections as well as to resist the strong influence of this loveless world. However, the rich rewards this brings makes it really worthwhile.​—Matthew 24:12.

Even in this very imperfect world, we can enjoy improved relations with our fellowmen, resulting in much joy, peace, and satisfaction to ourselves and to others. By making such an effort, we can prove ourselves worthy of the wonderful hope of living forever in God’s new world. Above all, by learning the excelling way of love, we may gain the approval and blessings of our loving Creator, both now and for eternity!

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Christian love can be shown by acts of kindness

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UN PHOTO 186226/​M. Grafman