Title: The 5 W’s of Love…a return to love
Scripture: Romans 13:10 Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
In the New International Version, various forms of the word love (love, loved, loves) can be found over 720 times! That’s a lot! Anytime we are presented with any word that occurs in any of its forms that frequently in the Bible, we need to realize that God is trying to tell us something.
There are many other words, topics, doctrines, themes, or subject matter that occur just as frequently and others that occur less frequently. As we mature spiritually, we should pay attention to those as we study the Bible in context. Some examples that we should include in our study of the Bible cover the doctrines of the Spirit of God, the Son, and the Father. As we progress spiritually, we should study the worship of God, and look deeper into the doctrine of salvation, the doctrine of prayer, and even those less visible areas, such as the doctrine of man.
In Romans 13:10, Paul presents a short case for love. It is another piece of a very easy puzzle. The pieces are strategically placed throughout the Bible at just the right location in scripture to corral our thoughts and bring the focus back onto the five W’s of love.
These often repeated definitions, explanations, and, at times, pleadings, easily persuade us to pay close attention to this word. When we scrutinize these presentations in scripture we can easily find out how love can impact our walk with God, how it can shape our testimony before the world, how it can intercede in our families, and how it can bless our neighbors, and our country.
Romans 13:10, gives us an indication why it is mentioned so many times. Though the verse is short and quick, it can go a long way in shaping just who you are and how you get along with others in the world. Additionally, we can dig a little bit deeper in other locations of the Bible to amplify and support. Let’s explore the five W’s of love:
Who
Why
What
Where
When
The WHO, in my estimation, is the most important of the five W’s. And, in order to know just Who the Who is, we have to leave the Book of Romans behind for a little while, and look to 1st John, chapter 4:8. There, the Apostle John says:
8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
There we have it, God is love. When you love someone, the love that you express to them is not actually you that is expressing it, but God expressing it through you. The reason I say this is because of what it says, God is love. Since God is love, any love that is expressed by me, is love that I have within me that is manifested through the love that God has for His creation. Now, in order to continue to explain this, we’ll have to move into the next W, WHY.
God is love. That is what it says. That is the Who of love. And, it could also express the WHY, but, 1st John 4:19 helps to expound upon that and give us a deeper reason as to Why we love.
19 We love because he first loved us.
That seems easy enough to understand. The Who that I love is God, and the Why I love is because He first loved me.
Yet, some people will still try to go further in their Why, and ask the question, “Why does God love?” This brings us to an even basic question that many people ask, “If God knew there would be sin in the world, why did He create man?” Because God is love. If you try to pick that apart, or try to dissect that, you cannot help be confronted with the perfection of God. Which, in circular reasoning, would bring us back to: Since God is perfect in love, He created the world and the people in the world.
Many questions concerning the Bible can be answered with one of two answers, love or sin.
Why did God create man? Love
Why is man like he is? Sin
Why do people do what they do? Could be one or the other
Why did Cain kill Abel? Sin
Why did Jesus come to this world? Love
Why did God create languages? Sin
Why did God send the flood? Sin
So you see, everything that is good is of God. That is why we say (from Galatians 5:22-23), that the fruit of the Spirit is 22 …) … love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Now, bring Romans 13:10,
“Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.”
So you see, everything that is good is of God! But, love goes one step further. Love is the fulfillment of the Law. Which is a direct reference to God and His love expressed to us through Jesus on the cross. Remember? …for God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son.
That is the total embodiment of the WHY?
Why does God love you? Because He created us to be His children. And, like any father, He has a father’s love for us. That is also the WHAT. Which shows us that these next three are short and simple.
What does God love? You! God loves you! Where does God love? Right there in your heart.. He loves you and is at work in your heart. He is at work in and through your heart. He is at work through your heart to touch the hearts of those around you. Can you believe that?
Now, let’s travel down a different street. We know Who originates love, and Why it originates. God originates love, and He does so because He is perfect and good. He loves us. And, He expects love in return because in Exodus 34:14, it tells us,
…for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.
Some people may say this is a bad thing, and in the case of the human heart, it usually is. In the good sense of jealousy, Elijah himself said that he was jealous for God in 1 Kings 19:10 and again in verse 14. That’s putting God first.
Some people will still try to tell you that all jealousy is a bad thing, and for the most part, the human part, they are right. However, in God’s case it speaks to the heart of man concerning the sovereignty of God.
Now, we are still traveling down a different street. God is love. God loves you. God, because He is God, must demand that all your love, which, like faith, originates in Him, be directed to Him. And, as you direct that love to Him, which originated in Him, it will be poured through other people. God, in turn, responds to that pouring out of love. That’s great. But, what happens when God loves you and you don’t respond? What happens when you love someone with a brotherly or sisterly love and they don’t respond?
Again, let’s visit 1st John 4, but start in verse 9:
9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. 13 We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. 16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. 17 In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
Now, back to the question. What happens if someone demonstrates a brotherly love toward you and you do not respond?
Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.
That’s pretty straight forward, isn’t it? God doesn’t want to have anything to do with you or me when we are not letting the Spirit manifest the fruit of the Spirit in our lives.
In Romans 12:9 and 10, the Apostle Paul says,
9 “Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.”
In 1 Corinthians 13:13, the Apostle Paul says, “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
In Matthew 22, an expert in the law asked Jesus this question:
36 "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" 37 Jesus replied: "’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ’Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
Everything hinges on love.
God is love.
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
Love your neighbor as yourself.
Love does no harm to its neighbor.
Love is the fulfillment of the law.
Is there any better reason to love one another?
