“And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.” (Ephesians 5:2)
The world sings: “Love is the answer.” They sing: “What the world needs now is love, sweet love.” The world knows the importance of love. The problem is the world doesn’t know what love is. The world’s idolization of self-love makes it impossible for them to grasp the nature of love.
Scripture tells us that love “seeketh not her own.” (1 Cor. 13:5) The essence of love is found in giving, not getting. The hallmark of love is sacrifice, where we lay down our life for those we love. “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13)
Yes, love is the answer. The inhabitants of the world have been and always will be in need of love. But they need God’s kind of love – the love that He demonstrated when He gave His only begotten Son for us; the love that Jesus showed when He laid down His life for us on the cross. And when we have received this love from a loving God, we can in turn be people who know how to love others, even as He loved us.