Love, pure love, will always be universal. It invariably reaches beyond carnal affections or worldly selections. God is love (1 John 4:8), and as the Scripture attests, His love reaches out to the whole world:
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
It follows that anything less than universal love is not true love. It amounts to a counterfeit product, to a cheap caricature of the divine. But somehow it has acquired the skill to mislead us, making us believe that it is truly valuable and laudable. It is, indeed, a powerful deluder that has stunned the conscience of many.
An exposing scripture
There is a verse in the gospel of John that should trigger some meditation and self-examination. It reads:
If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” (John 15:19)
So here we have a “love” that selects its beneficiaries on the basis of self-gratification: “If you are in my clique I love you, if not, stay on the other side of the fence.” Jesus points out that this is the kind of “love” the world offers, a “love” practiced by many people quite efficiently:
But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.” (Luke 6:32)
Now we, Christians, must be careful to not fall into that worldly trap, for we also are apt to focus on our comrades and marginalize the rest. It is actually the human way of dealing with people. But God stands in striking contrast to that sort of behavior and teaches us to ascent into a more glorious sphere. Actually, it is this ascension that will make us shine forth, and shine forth in such a way as to expose the sham love the world offers.
A stone and a stone
A few years ago, I wrote a post entitled: A stone & a stone. The post refers to the wrongness of using different standards for different people. Love, true love, will never fall into that trap, for it is incompatible with partiality. It reaches beyond the conventional and touches the heart of all humanity. It leaves no room for racism, denominationalism or casteism. In brief, discrimination is anathema to true love, as much as favoritism and classism. That is why God tells us:
“Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.” (Gal. 6:10)
Here it is important to notice that these words don’t necessarily imply we should love those who are of the household of faith more than anyone else; it simply brings to our attention that the brotherhood should not be neglected. Surely the injunction is highly pertinent, for we often see brothers and sisters in the faith in animosity with each other more than with anyone else in the world. We might pray for Chinese, Indians and Africans and for those in the neighboring towns, but we might leave out brother George with whom we have a conflict, hoping he finds another community to go to. This is certainly a denial of universal love, and once universal love is denied we are left with a mundane love that is selective, self-centered, discriminating and often hateful.
The standard of Love
I am very aware that the following verses are well known, but they are so glorious that to leave them out would be unacceptable. Besides, they express the code of behavior binding on all men.
You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” (Matt. 5:43–45)
This sort of love is certainly exposing. It challenges the whole man and leaves nothing untouched. Furthermore, “love your enemies” is a command that goes hand in hand with “Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’ ” But somehow we tend to isolate it as optional and trivialize its importance. Ergo, its weightiness is often downplayed as to tranquilize our conscience. All this and more is often the result of subliminal influences that warp the mind and harden the heart.
A beautiful quest
As I wrote earlier, God teaches us to ascent into the glorious sphere of universal love. And the ascent will always be, by the nature of the case, as wonderful as the motive prompting it. It is, in all of its aspects, a noble adventure. In addition, we can count on God to assist us, for the person who wants to take hold of universal love wants to take hold of God, because God is love.
We also have encouraging words that should inspire our heart, such as:
“… the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” (Rom.5:5)
“Now may the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the patience of Christ.” 2 Thess. 3:5
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” (2 Tim. 1:7)
These words should impel us to repudiate the unscrupulous love the world offers and to pursue universal love with a fervent heart, and we can be sure the Spirit will lead us on.
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