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Love fulfills the law, parts 3 and 4

Lynne Baab • Thursday June 18 2026

Love fulfills the law, parts 3 and 4

Overall theme from January until next month: God’s law is love

Lesson 11: Love fulfills the law, parts 3 and 4 (1 Corinthians 13:8-13; Romans 13:8-10)

Key verse: The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet”; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Romans 13:9

God’s character and actions 

Movies, TV shows, novels, children’s books, and many other forms of media present diverse pictures of love. We see erotic love, romantic love, love for country, and love between friends. We hear about sacrificial love and loving people enough to confront them. When we read about love in the Bible, we may wonder how to determine exactly what a Christian view of love looks like, with similarities and contrasts to the love we see in our culture.

Love for a Christian is grounded in the character and actions of God. Some Christians have tried to distinguish between God’s character as a source of praise and God’s actions which motivate us to express thanks. In some instances that distinction works, and we can gain information about love from by viewing God’s character and actions separately. However, in most instances God’s character and actions are inextricably linked. The God of power and might rescued the people of Israel from the Egyptians, showing lovingkindness throughout the Passover and Exodus.

The God who created and loves humans sent Jesus to earth for our sake. Some interpreters of 1 Corinthians 13 argue that we can read the specific characteristics of love as belonging to Jesus: Jesus is patient and kind, Jesus is not envious, boastful, arrogant, or rude (see v. 4-5). In Jesus we find the clearest revelation of God’s love. The four Gospels are essential reading for anyone who wants to know what God’s love looks like in practice. We are also indebted to the Apostle Paul for the specific description of love in 1 Corinthians, the clearest and most detailed list of the characteristics of love in the Bible and a helpful measuring stick for anyone who wants to grow in showing the kind of love that reflects God’s character. 

Christians who are tired of the over-sexualized and over-sentimentalized views of love so often promoted in movies, TV shows, novels, and elsewhere may be tempted to throw out all forms of contemporary media as pictures of love and focus only on the Bible. However, because humans were made in the image of a relational God, sometimes the shows we see and the books we read present pictures of love that bear a close resemblance to the characteristics listed in 1 Corinthians 13. “Faith, hope, and love abide,” Paul writes (v. 13). Faith, hope, and love are sometimes visible in the most unexpected places because God’s nature was stamped on human personality at creation. The influence of sin means that many other characteristics also present, so careful discernment is necessary.

Compare and contrast the characteristics of God’s love that you see in the Bible with the forms of love portrayed in TV shows, movies, and novels.

Stepping into the world

In the Bible, the command to love is clear, compelling, and challenging. The description of love in 1 Corinthians 13 is a high standard. Equally challenging are Jesus’s words, repeated by Paul: “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39, Romans 13:9). Mercifully, for anyone who wants to show love to God and to the people around them, we have not been left alone to make this happen with our own strength.

Love originates in God and flows into our hearts through the Holy Spirit. God loves us first, and because we are loved, we can express our love to God and show love to others in concrete ways. Therefore, growing in receiving God’s love is one of the most important ways we can scale up our ability to love God and others. Often when we read a passage like 1 Corinthians 13 or Romans 13, we immediately start trying to figure out how we can do more to show love. Our desire may be faith-based and healthy; we may long to please God. However, when we center our focus on our own actions, we risk falling into the kind of legalism Paul has been writing about.

One of the most important Christian spiritual practices is to figure out where we feel loved by God and go there. Jon loves Bible study and sees God’s character and love there. Dawn loves to get out in nature. Forests, mountains and streams speak to her of God’s creative love. Sandra creates collages and experiences God’s love through art. Len plays the piano, and for him, live music floods his senses with the experience of God’s presence and love. Marsha is extraverted and friendly. God’s love is most real to her in a group of people.

We structure our worship services with a variety of forms of prayer, music, Bible reading and preaching in the hopes that worshippers will experience God’s love through at least one of them. In our congregations, we offer opportunities to meet in small groups, learn in seminars, and serve in a variety of ministry, hoping for growth in discipleship. All discipleship must be fed and nurtured by God’s love flowing into us as individuals and groups like water into a lake. The water then flows out of us as we express our love to God and others. Neglecting the outflow of love violates the commands about love in the Bible. However, neglecting to emphasize the inflow of love from God results in tired and discouraged Christians whose love will eventually either dry up or become self-serving.

Where do you experience God’s love? What do you do to be sure that you make space to receive God’s love frequently?

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Next week: Life in Christ brings freedom. Illustration by Dave Baab: Zoo Café, St. Clair Beach, Dunedin, New Zealand. The writing in the window says, "I love three things in this world. Sun, Moon, and You."

Previous posts about love:

This lesson appeared in the Fall 2023 edition of The Present Word adult Bible study curriculum published by the Presbyterian Publishing Corporation. Used with permission.

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