Do You Love People?
DO YOU love people? The Creator of heaven and earth loves people. Great as he is, as far removed as his heavenly throne is from this mundane sphere on which we dwell, yet he is interested in people; he loves people. As Jesus Christ, God’s Son, said: “God loved the world” of people very much.—John 3:16.
But why love people? Why does God the Creator love people? Doubtless there are many reasons. For one thing, he saw in people something inherently good, something worthwhile. He saw in imperfect people on earth the possibility of their responding to his goodness. We might even say that God saw in people some of his own fine qualities. Does that sound farfetched? Not at all, for had not God created man in his own image and likeness in the first place? And even in imperfect man there was enough of that likeness remaining to call forth the love of God, whose name is Jehovah.—Gen. 1:26, 27.
More than that, God loves people because he appreciates the needs of people and he likes to see his creatures happy. The plight of humans awakened in him pity and compassion, which are facets of love. As we read regarding God’s Son, Jesus Christ, who reflects his Father’s mental disposition: “On seeing the crowds [of people] he felt pity for them, because they were skinned and thrown about like sheep without a shepherd.”—Matt. 9:36; John 5:19.
Among other reasons that might be mentioned why God and his Son love people is that expressing such love results in a blessing to themselves, on the principle that “there is more happiness in giving than there is in receiving.” In fact, the Bible tells us that it is possible for imperfect humans, by pursuing a wise course, to bring happiness to God himself: “Be wise, my son, and make my heart rejoice, that I may make a reply to him that is taunting me.”—Acts 20:35; Prov. 27:11.
The reasons that Jehovah God and Jesus Christ have for loving people are certainly adequate for us to love other people, namely, because of their fine qualities or their potentialities for good, because they need our love, because loving people can bring mutual happiness. But as imperfect humans we have added reasons for loving people. Are we not all related? Both Adam and Noah are our common ancestors. And then, God made us so that it is not good for us to continue alone for any length of time. We need one another. No hermit, anchorite or recluse was ever balanced and truly happy, because such persons are self-centered, which does not go with happiness.—Gen. 2:18.
How can you show that you love people? First of all, by associating with people. When on earth Jesus was ever associating with people. The crowds flocked to him, and, tired though he may have been, he did not push them away from him. (Mark 6:30-34) So, do not be a selfish introvert, keeping to yourself all the time; do not be a “lone wolf.” Show you love people by mixing in with them. Not that there are not times when it is good for you to be alone, as for prayer and meditation, even as we read of Jesus Christ. (Matt. 14:23; Luke 4:42) But do not let such things as the love of money or even the pursuit of knowledge make you one-sided, unbalanced. That is why God arranged for people to be reared in families and why Christians are told to assemble together.—Heb. 10:23-25.
Another way to show that you love people is by making no distinctions because of race or nationality. God did not love just white people or black people, but he loved people. That is why Christ’s followers are told to “make disciples of people of all the nations,” all kinds of people.—Acts 10:34, 35; Matt. 28:19.
Yes, to love people means to serve them regardless of their race or nationality. Last February the Supreme Court of New Jersey ruled that a barber might not refuse to cut the hair of a person because he happened to be a Negro. The barber had argued that he could refuse personal service and that he was not qualified to cut the hair of Negroes because of its “unusual texture and quality.” Obviously he did not love people if they were not white. He wanted to ignore the Scriptural truth that God “made out of one man every nation of men.”—Acts 17:26.
The chief way in which you can show you love people is also the way God and Christ showed that they loved people, by doing things for them. “By this the love of God was made manifest in our case, because God sent forth his only-begotten Son into the world that we might gain life.”—1 John 4:9.
There are ever so many little ways, day in and day out, that you can show you love people: by being outgoing, by being ready to smile, ready to start up a conversation with your neighbor. A stranger alone and quiet will, more often than not, welcome the interest another shows by striking up a conversation. Empathy will help you to do so, for it enables you to put yourself in others’ shoes, as it were.
Show you love people by being ready to lend a helping hand, by making allowances for them, by not expecting too much of them, by recognizing their potentialities for good. Especially do teachers, physicians, missionaries and Christian ministers need to love people if they would be successful. And the same goes for individuals who have oversight of people.
One of the main reasons why Christian ministers keep calling at the homes of people to tell them about God and his kingdom is that they love people. Where welcomed, they keep calling back weekly, one year, two years and even longer as in the case of one upstate New York family of six. But the end result was that, not only did all six accept the truth of God’s Word, but all of them became full-time preachers of this truth.
Do you love people? You should, for loving people is Godlike and Christlike and it pays in mutual happiness. Show that love by associating with people, by making no partial distinctions and by being helpful as opportunity affords!