What's Love Got to Do With It?

In the book of Hebrews, you may have noticed that as you read, you won’t find a whole lot of practical application up to this point. In fact, you would notice a similar pattern in many of the New Testament letters. It seems that the Holy Spirit saw fit to make sure that doctrine was emphasized first, then allowed the author to become much more practical and provide the application to the doctrine that had been taught.

It’s fascinating to read history regarding the early church and the behavior of the Christians. In the first century, it was well documented to the Roman emperor that Christians would avoid theft or robbery or adultery, never break their word or repudiate a deposit when called on to refund it. It was stated that when unbelievers observed the lives of believers, they saw that what was taught was believed and lived.

Bertrand Russell, a famous philosopher who died in 1970 at 98 years of age, is famous for an essay he wrote, Why I Am Not a Christian. Sadly, he focused on the lives of Christians of whom he had knowledge, or of those who were quite obvious in their not living for Christ. Using these and other examples that were designed to prove his point, Russell argued forcibly against God’s Word and against Christianity in general.

At a conference where the famous evangelist D. L. Moody was present, some of the more zealous young people decided to spend a night in prayer. The next morning one of the young men said to Moody, “We have just come from a wonderful all-night prayer meeting. See how our faces shine!” The evangelist replied, “Moses knew not that his face shone.

Without a solid framework of biblical standards of right and wrong, it is not possibly to truly do anything which is truly moral. Our world and many who are set against God, are proof of this. As we look around and sometimes experience shock and surprise at how right is considered wrong and wrong is called right, that is all the proof that is needed. Even within the church, whenever people begin to deny parts of the Bible or try to change uncomfortable sections in order to fit in with our society, it ends up being seen in their lifestyle, which causes the testimony about Christ to have no value at all.

The Beatles had a song years ago which stated All You Need Is Love. But where does love come from? Also, what does love look like? My friends, love itself comes from God and there are standards that are required, namely holiness for love to truly be legitimate. For individuals to be able to practice moral behavior and exhibit genuine love requires proper standards and ethics which require correct biblical doctrine. This requires a personal saving relationship with Jesus Christ and that a person be in a current right relationship with Christ.

If you wish to be a witness for Jesus Christ, then it stands to reason that you will live your life like Jesus if He is truly in charge of your life. It will then be seen in how you show Christ’s love.

A genuine believer in Jesus Christ will show genuine love through their lives.

Love for Family of God - 13.1

Love will be seen by others in various areas to various people. The most obvious love should be seen by our love for other brothers and sisters, even those with whom we may disagree on non-essential doctrinal issues.

Hebrews 13:1 (NASB95)

Let love of the brethren continue.

Philadelphia is the Greek word used for love. We often hear of this spoken of as brotherly love. It’s literally tender affection for someone from the same womb. We see this word used for even unbelieving Jews, as they are offspring of Abraham and Sarah.

There is a sense of love for the Christian Jews to show to their Jewish brothers/sisters who were not believers, but this doesn’t seem to be the primary focus. The main idea here seems to be having a love for their Christian brothers/sisters. This love should already exist because of Jesus, since we see the author uses the word continue.

This is not something which can be manufactured by us. However, it is a natural result which happens as a result of belonging to Jesus. We cannot force it to take place, but rather we can allow it to continue. We might ask why this is even necessary to say, since it’s a natural event that takes place for the believer. I believe that the reason might be that we can actually try to shut it down, or to limit it with our own requirements and conditions.

How important is this loving our brothers and sisters? The Bible has several places where the Christian is urged and encouraged to allow Christ’s love to flow through us to other Christians. 2 Peter 1.3 “seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.” 1 Thess 4.9-10 “Now as to the love of the brethren, you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another; for indeed you do practice it toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brethren, to excel still more,” are just a couple of places we read about this.

We then ask ourselves as to how this actually looks in everyday life? With the human tendency to stifle love and to make it conditional, what principle can help us to continue in our love for fellow Christians? It seems that the answer is simply to have a greater concern and care for others than we do for ourselves. Look at Romans 12.10 “Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor . . .” Oftentimes, we get caught up in our struggles, or what’s taking place in our own personal world, and we forget to consider others before ourselves. Consider what Paul says in Philippians 2.3-4 “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.”

John MacArthur made this comment about the importance of brotherly love: it reveals to the world that we belong to Christ; it reveals our true identity to ourselves; and it delights God. Do you struggle with how to share Christ with those around you who don’t know Jesus? John 13.35 “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” helps to give an answer to this. This would seem to be one of the most obvious ways in which the unbelieving world gets to see what being saved does to a person in his/her relationships.

There is also some personal assurance that is gained when we allow the love of Jesus to flow through us to our fellow believers. 1 John 3.14 gives us the encouragement we often need, when Satan tries to convince us that we’re not saved: “We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death.”

Then we see that our loves for other believers delights our Lord. I often will point out to Jannita when I see our children doing special things together as they are showing love towards each other. I do this because my heart is so thrilled and warmed by this. Even Psalm 133.1 alludes to this idea: “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brothers to dwell together in unity!”

Again, I need to stress that this brotherly love is not something which we can conjure up in our own power. However, when one is born again, this love is given to us and we then see our brothers and sisters in Christ in a new, unique way, giving us the opportunity to allow the love to continue.

Yet, if we focus on ourselves and are not keeping our eyes on Jesus, we stifle or even shut down this brotherly love for others. So what do we need to do? Make sure our eyes are on Jesus so that we are able to consider others above ourselves.

Love for Strangers - 13.2

We all probably feel fairly comfortable, at least most of the time, with loving others who belong to the family of God. But now, the author describes for us the need to love people with whom we most likely don’t have any relationship with, or at least a very surface relationship.

Hebrews 13:2 (NASB95)

Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.

Who is a stranger? Well, I think we can establish the fact that it’s not our brothers and sisters in Christ. What about the unbeliever who lives next door or with whom I work at my business? I would have to say no, since they would be known by you already. A simple definition of a stranger is someone we do not have a personal relationship with or even know.

But if we show love to strangers, isn’t there a danger we’ll be taken advantage of? It’s entirely possible. We should seek God’s wisdom when helping strangers. I should actually be more concerned with helping a stranger in need than having them take advantage of my generosity. However, I believe we can be wise in how we help. For example, when I’ve been asked for money to put gas into someone’s vehicle, I won’t do that. Instead, I’ve walked over to the gas station and met them there and then had them fill their vehicle with gas, then I will pay the station. I’ve met their need and still made it so they can’t spend the money on something like drugs, alcohol, or something else. Or if someone says they have no money to buy groceries, we’ve actually had them come to join us for a meal or I’ve gone with them to the grocery store and they pick out some basic necessities and we pay for it.

The author speaks of show[ing] hospitality to strangers. The picture is that of allowing someone whom you don’t know to stay overnight or for a few nights. This was common practice amongst the Jewish people and those around them. To not practice hospitality would signal that you were a person of no virtue. It’s also interesting to note that for the elders and pastors, Paul lists hospitality as a necessary characteristic. It’s also expected of women who are living for the Lord in 1 Timothy 5. So it would seem to be expected to be part of every Christian’s lifestyle and way of thinking.

Shortly after we began our ministry here in St. Albans, we led a small group study on hospitality. In that, we looked at the biblical guidelines and realized that you don’t have to possess a lot, you don’t have to be the world’s best cook, you don’t have to have the nicest, neatest, or loveliest home. You simply need to have, as the title of our study suggested, Open Hearts, Open Homes. We simply need to be available to meet the needs of others.

Then we run into the last half of this verse, some have entertained angels without knowing it. First of all, this is not what causes us to show hospitality; it is the love of Christ within us, as we allow His love to flow through us. In other words, we’re not being hospitable to build brownie points for the kingdom of God. The reality seems to be that we never know just how important or what an impact our helping someone else in need can be. We have no idea who we might be helping when we show hospitality. What we do can have a life-changing impact on their lives, and possibly our very own.

Love for the Suffering - 13.3

The last group that the author describes refers to those who are mistreated or are simply in prison. It’s possibly their own fault or they were falsely charged. In the context of the whole book of Hebrews, they were probably in prison or ill-treated because of identifying with Jesus. But there’s an identification that we have with them in that we are mistreated, persecuted, or hated because of the fact that we’ve chosen to follow Jesus and live for Him. We should understand what this feels like.

Hebrews 13:3 (NASB95)

Remember the prisoners, as though in prison with them, and those who are ill-treated, since you yourselves also are in the body.

Have you noticed that you find yourself to be much more understanding of someone else if you’ve experienced the same or a similar struggle in your life? You don’t have to have the same experience in order to have sympathy or compassion on others who are going through difficult times, however. As a counselor and pastor, I am grateful to the Lord that I’ve not gone through many of the difficult times that some people experience. But because I belong to Jesus and have the Holy Spirit guiding me, I am able to sympathize and offer words of counsel and encouragement. In other words, I don’t have to experience drug abuse, alcoholism, gambling, losing a family member, and the list goes on and on, to be able to show love to others going through difficult times.

I should, however, consider what I would want from others when I’m going through difficult, or even unfair, situations. If I’m in the hospital or in prison, I would hope Christians would come to visit me to encourage me. If I were going through a hardship of any kind, I would hope that those who claim the name of Jesus would come alongside me to help me to move forward.

Plus, consider the fact that you don’t have to have everything going perfectly for you in order to help others out who are struggling. So what are we to do? Sometimes, it is just a manner of being present with the other individual, whether they are Christian or not. I’ve heard of individuals who went to be with someone in the hospital and all they did was sit there beside the bed. They didn’t spend any energy trying to visit with the other person, as they were tired and weak. Another person went to see a relative in jail, who was there because he did something foolish. The visiting relative simply went there to let the incarcerated individual know that they were still loved.

Another means of showing love for those suffering is to actually get your hands dirty by helping them. It might be financially, or physically. To simply say I’m praying for you, when you could actually tangibly help them seems a bit shallow and not showing genuine love. We recall James saying something about that in his letter.

However, prayer is indeed a powerful way in which we can show love to others in difficult situations. The reality is that many times, we are unable to be physically present, nor can we tangibly help the individual, due to various realities. However, nothing can stop a believer from praying earnestly on behalf of the other person.

Conclusion

John MacArthur was once asked to speak on the Christian view of sex at an ethics class at a state university. He stated: I introduced my talk with words to this effect: “I don’t expect any of you here to believe what I say. I do not think you have the capacity either to understand or accept the Christian view of sex. It will be totally foreign to you, because you cannot comprehend or accept it without a personal relationship to Jesus Christ.” Then, before presenting the basics of the New Testament teachings about sex, I spent about half an hour explaining what a personal relationship to Jesus Christ means.

So obviously, before we can truly show genuine love to others, we must be born again; having that saving relationship with Jesus Christ. It is only then that we can truly show love to our brothers and sisters in Christ. It is only having experienced being saved that we can truly show love to strangers. It is only knowing that you are no longer a prisoner to Satan’s chains because of your salvation in Jesus, that you can truly show love to those who are suffering in whatever way they may be experiencing.

It’s enlightening to come across Galatians 6.2 “Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.” This is such an obvious example to the world of how the love of Christ causes us to live differently, having a powerful impact on those around us.