I would agree. If we take into account that God is love, love would have to be the most important Bible verse. But, when I think about love being an action ("to love not in word, but in deed and in truth"), and I think about Jesus being God in the flesh, as well as Him being God's expression of love to a dying world ("For God so loved the world, he gave His only begotten Son..."), I do believe Jesus is the key take-away from all of scripture. For example, in John 5:39-40 Jesus says, "You search the Scriptures, because you think you will find eternal life in them. The Scriptures tell about me, but you refuse to come to me for eternal life."
I definitely agree that love is the greatest of all commandments, but only knowing God could produce such results in our lives, seeing that He is the true Vine and we are the branches. In order to continue producing fruit, we the branches have to stay connected to Jesus, or we'll stop producing fruit. When we see evidence of real love around us--neighbors treating one another with compassion, for example--I think of it as being a ripple effect pointing to God (who I agree is indeed love). And God blesses both his children and those who are not His children because He is love. But, if I loved others and I knew about God's love for me, but suddenly found out I was not His child/not going to be with Jesus in Heaven, then I would be utterly miserable.
Perhaps we are saying the same thing. I'm not sure. I believe Jesus is our foundation (1 Corithians 3:10-15), because without Him we would have no faith (because He is the author of it), and without Him, I believe everyone would lose the true ability to love. And if we reject Jesus, we don't have God who is love. If we don't have love, it's a sign that we truly don't know God, because God is love...
Foundation-wise, I feel 1 Corinthians 3:10-15 might state who/what our foundation is, in more certain terms. I'll post it here for convenience :
10 God treated me with undeserved grace and let me become an expert builder. I laid a foundation on which others have built. But we must each be careful how we build, 11 because Christ is the only foundation. 12-13 Whatever we build on this foundation will be tested by fire on the day of judgment. Then everyone will find out if we have used gold, silver, and precious stones, or wood, hay, and straw. 14 We will be rewarded if our building is left standing. 15 But if it is destroyed by the fire, we will lose everything. Yet we ourselves will be saved, like someone escaping from flames.
You have certainly gotten me thinking! Lol. That's not a bad thing. You know, "as iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another." I appreciate the sharpening. And again, thank you for being willing to share.
Wow! I love your long response. Thank you! Amen!
The response you gave is a common response I get. Once I say that “God is love” is the foundation of faith, many Christians automatically think I’m saying Jesus isn’t crucially necessary to our faith. Which I am not saying at all.
I think it’s the word love that causes people to reject my perspective. So for you, I will share what I mean by love.
I believe love is defined as goodness. I believe this because of 1 Corinthians 13:4-6:
“Love is patient and kind, never jealous, boastful, proud, or rude. Love isn't selfish or quick tempered. It doesn't keep a record of wrongs that others do. Love rejoices in the truth, but not in evil.” - 1 Corinthians 13:4-6
Since patience, kindness, consideration, humility, selflessness, forgiveness are all good and they all describe love, then I define love as goodness.
Love is most important because without love, we lose patience, kindness, consideration, humility, selflessness, forgiveness, etc. Imagine a world without those virtues. It would be hell on Earth!
I believe the Bible says that love is most important:
- “Love is more important than anything else. It is what ties everything completely together.” - Colossians 3:14
- “Jesus answered: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. This is the first and most important commandment. The second most important commandment is like this one. And it is, ‘Love others as much as you love yourself.’” - Matthew 22:37-39
- “For now there are faith, hope, and love. But of these three, the greatest is love.” - 1 Corinthians 13:13
Also, because I get the objection that Jesus is the foundation of faith, not love, I actually wrote a response that I would love to share with you. May I?
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