The Love of Christ
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress,
or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written,
For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the
slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him
that loved us.
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities,
nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth,
nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God,
which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
--Romans 8:35-39
If then none of the things listed above can separate us from the love of Christ, how then is it
that there are so many things which we allow to separate the people around us from the love
of Christ which is to be found in us? Love is not merely an emotion, it is a decision. How do we
know this?
Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying,
Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the
Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and
great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. (Matt. 22:35-40)
We have been commanded to love, and since one can decide to obey or disobey a command-
ment, love is therefore a decision. If we have allowed circumstances, situations, etc., to cause us
not to love others, then we must examine ourselves, and whether we are walking in the love of
Christ. This isn’t always easy, as there will be times when those around us, and even those under
our authority may very well make themselves rather un-lovable in a wide variety of ways.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in
him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)
The Bible never gives us a reason as to why God loved the world so much that He gave His only
begotten Son for their redemption. Very often we love people for reasons -- sometimes good
and valid reasons, and sometimes very wrong reasons. Nevertheless, we must understand that
reasons will always become conditions. Once the conditions are no longer met, our very reason-
able hearts find it very easy to decide not to love anymore. My wife is a wonderful woman, but I
don’t love her because she’s wonderful (though I thank God that she is!). I love her because she’s
my wife. If we decide to love unconditionally, then it will be easier to overcome the “reasons” our
hearts may try to give us for not loving people.
Forgiveness, like love, is also not an emotion; it’s a decision. God decided to forgive those who
would believe in Jesus Christ and repent of their ways. Many of us as leaders carry old hurts,
wounds, and resentments because of the events of the past, the difficulties of the present, and
the uncertainties of the future. Forgiveness doesn’t mean the hurt will stop right away. After all,
Jesus had a few more hours to go on the cross when he forgave those who had tortured and
crucified Him (Luke 23:34). Let’s also remember that Christ died for us while we were sinners
(Romans 5:8). The importance of this detail cannot easily be overstated, because very often it is
our ability to love those around us that will often determine the extent to which we will be able to
minister to them.
Love fosters unity, but it should never be unity at the cost of the truth. Disparities, disagreements,
and inconsistencies should be resolved rather than set aside. It is knowing the truth that makes
people free (John 8:32), and precisely how to cause them to know the truth is something which
cannot be determined by our own personal preferences, prejudices and opinions. Agape rejoices
in the truth (1 Corinthians 13:6), and so the impartation of genuine love is vital to causing dis-
ciples to accept truth and embrace it so that they may become truly free. This doesn’t mean that
there will never be confrontations or corrections, but rather that we must, even in confrontation,
be certain that we remain founded upon the Word, rooted in Christ and His love, and absolutely
committed to relying upon and obeying the Holy Spirit’s guidance, which will always be consistent
with the Word.
Now, there are many who will claim to have great love for God, His people, and the lost, yet an
examination of their habits and private conduct will show that their actions are ruled by self-inter-
est. One of the growing trends in ministry is the promotion of self-interest as being healthy and
righteous. Let’s examine this in the light of the Word:
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life
which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave
himself for me. (Gal. 2:20)
If then, Christ lives in us, and we live by His faith, then even our attention to our basic needs, ca-
reer goals, ministerial activities, etc., must be consistent with the character of Christ. The first law
of our old nature is self-interest; the first law of our new nature in Christ is self-denial and surren-
der of all to Him. Therefore, those things which previously would have seemed to be justified by
self-interest are now governed by the interests of God’s Kingdom. I eat, rest and exercise to care
for His temple, I pursue certain business goals for the purpose of financing the proper Godly care
of my family and the vision God gave me. Placing God’s interest at the heart of everything will not
only ensure that nothing goes neglected, but it will also protect you from the most dangerous foe
you may ever face: self will. Remember, Lucifer’s fall began with two words: I will. Remember,
love is not motivated by self-interest. (1 Corinthians 13:5)
This is particularly important because so many of us as leaders have preached a gospel that
is characterized by self-interest and the selfish, self-serving ideologies that come with it. I have
encountered churches in which every time prophetic ministry has occurred, a special offering is
raised, and the people are told that they need to “seal that word” with a “seed.” If we understand
that true prophetic utterance is based on God having spoken, and that the Bible says that God’s
word is forever settled (Psalm 119:89), then we will know that you and I don’t have to “seal” a
thing if God has truly spoken. Now, there may be times when God places a condition on some-
thing, but if we study the Bible, it was very rare for Biblical prophets who were right with God to
ask people for money. Is this pattern an idle detail? There’s nothing wrong with raising an offering,
but there is everything wrong with using ministerial gifts to entice people into giving (e.g., Micah
3:1-12).
If we are to walk in genuine love, we must also take care in how we delegate tasks so as not to
overburden anyone. I have seen more than a few leaders make unreasonable demands of their
people, and assign them to tasks that they would never lift a finger to do (Luke 11:46). I knew of
one leader who left their people waiting over 40 minutes in the cold because she had decided,
just before leaving for the service that night, to change her hairstyle, and only she had keys to
the church. Do we walk in love when we subject God’s people to our whims? Still another leader
became angry with one of his members when informed that the member would no longer be able
to do graphic design for the ministry because he no longer had access to the computer lab he
had been using to do it. This young man had been taking a train 50 miles for that purpose, hav-
ing neither a car nor a computer of his own. This leader often boasted of having nearly 60 pairs
of alligator shoes, but it had somehow never occurred to him that the ministry could have owned
an inexpensive laptop with good design software for the price of one pair of those lovely shoes.
Is this the love of Christ? Always remember, that, as a leader, a vital part of your mission is to
equip the saints and empower them for God’s purpose, and that a “leave ‘em twisting in the wind”
attitude may very well only serve to hinder the accomplishment of your vision.
We must also be sure that our own ambition does not cause us to deliberately keep those under
our care from stepping into their own destiny. As leaders, if we truly love God and His people, we
must take great care to come to a good understanding of God’s purpose for those under our care,
and then begin to take decisive action that will not only be conducive to the development of His
people, but that will also create opportunity for their advancement in His kingdom. Always bear in
mind that there may very well be facets of your vision which God will not permit you to personally
carry out, even as God did not permit David to build the temple he had envisioned, but rather as-
signed the task to his son Solomon. (1 Chronicles 17:1-14). Knowing this, consider the possibility
that God’s love expressed through you to a seemingly insignificant person in your midst could
very well be the one thing the future of your vision rests upon. How many apostles, prophets,
evangelists, pastors, and teaches sit in our pews week after week, unaware of their call or afraid
to pursue it because their leadership has convinced them that they must “know their place?”
A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye
also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one
to another. (John 13: 34-35)
We must, if we truly love the Lord and His people, make every godly effort to prepare His people
for the pursuit of their destiny, even if it means sending them out to launch their own works.
We presently live in a culture in which self-interest and selfishness are admired, and we must
take care not to allow that in our leadership. The present reality is that for most of us, when we
launched our ministries, we did so without the help of the leadership we were previously under,
and in many cases, we started out with opposition, resentment, and even curses spoken against
us by the leaders we had faithfully served. Jesus instructed us to do unto others as we would
have them do unto us (Matt. 7:12). According to Jesus, all men would know us as His disciples,
if we love one another. Yet, evangelical leaders have a fairly solid reputation for fleecing people
out of their money, and are often referred to as “pimps” by many. Some may say these things out
of ungodly motives, but all too often it is the truth.
We must also remember that love isn’t always touchy-feely or feel-good, but it can include correc-
tion. Some of us as leaders take up this part of things quite readily, yet we have not corrected in
love. Correction isn’t just telling someone off, or otherwise punishing them; that’s chastisement,
which is valid when done according to the Word. Love does indeed rejoice in the truth (1 Corinthi-
ans 13:6), and there may very well be times that you must share some harsh truths with people,
despite the fact that some may not be willing to receive it. Yet, we must always remember that
correction includes guiding people into what is good and right. Remember that after Peter denied
Christ, Jesus restored him (John 21).
So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me
more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto
him, Feed my lambs. He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou
me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed
my sheep. He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was
grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord,
thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
(John 21:15-17)
A good question to ask ourselves when making the various decisions we must make in ministry is
“am I feeding His sheep by doing this?” Some of us have been persuaded by culture and tradition
that to feed God’s sheep involves little more than preaching some good sermons and doing some
good teaching, but there is more to feeding them than that. After all the natural shepherd must
provide clean water, safety from the elements, protection from predators and parasites. All of
these things require a commitment of our time. When as a manager for a large company and had
to supervise 200 people at over 30 locations, my boss repeatedly told me, “Always have time for
people.” There was, at one point a problem occurring, and even though his day was already busy,
he committed a good deal of time to helping us resolve the problem. Although he was unsaved,
he taught me a good deal about mentoring and leadership. While it is good and fine to delegate,
we must take care to make time for God’s flock. Genuine love never disregards the needs or suf-
fering of others (1 John 3:16-17).
There was once a man who worked in a factory and needed to make some extra money for his
children to get braces for their teeth. He began to sell life insurance part-time in order to do so.
After some time, he began to train others to work under him, and within months he became the
very first person to make over one million dollars a year selling term life insurance. Eventually,
he became the first to earn over one million dollars a month selling term life insurance. How was
this possible? He invested most of his time in training and mentoring his people, equipping them
for success. Would this insurance salesman have been able to sell all that insurance himself?
NEVER! The more successful his people became, the more successful he became, and this oc-
curred because he trained them, and trained them very well. Is this a worldly principle? Not by
any means. Jesus Himself commanded us to pray for more laborers to be sent into the harvest
(Luke 10:2).
We must understand that fathers gain most of their honor through their sons, and this is clearly
shown in the Bible. Where would David’s vision for a grand temple be without Solomon? Abra-
ham was given the Promise, but Jacob became Israel, and that Promise was ultimately fulfilled
in Jesus Christ. Let us not forget that every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord for the
glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:11). If you are to truly fulfill God’s purpose, you will have
to raise sons and fully equip them to carry that purpose beyond the reach of your own life
and effort.
or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written,
For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the
slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him
that loved us.
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities,
nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth,
nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God,
which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
--Romans 8:35-39
If then none of the things listed above can separate us from the love of Christ, how then is it
that there are so many things which we allow to separate the people around us from the love
of Christ which is to be found in us? Love is not merely an emotion, it is a decision. How do we
know this?
Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying,
Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the
Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and
great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. (Matt. 22:35-40)
We have been commanded to love, and since one can decide to obey or disobey a command-
ment, love is therefore a decision. If we have allowed circumstances, situations, etc., to cause us
not to love others, then we must examine ourselves, and whether we are walking in the love of
Christ. This isn’t always easy, as there will be times when those around us, and even those under
our authority may very well make themselves rather un-lovable in a wide variety of ways.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in
him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)
The Bible never gives us a reason as to why God loved the world so much that He gave His only
begotten Son for their redemption. Very often we love people for reasons -- sometimes good
and valid reasons, and sometimes very wrong reasons. Nevertheless, we must understand that
reasons will always become conditions. Once the conditions are no longer met, our very reason-
able hearts find it very easy to decide not to love anymore. My wife is a wonderful woman, but I
don’t love her because she’s wonderful (though I thank God that she is!). I love her because she’s
my wife. If we decide to love unconditionally, then it will be easier to overcome the “reasons” our
hearts may try to give us for not loving people.
Forgiveness, like love, is also not an emotion; it’s a decision. God decided to forgive those who
would believe in Jesus Christ and repent of their ways. Many of us as leaders carry old hurts,
wounds, and resentments because of the events of the past, the difficulties of the present, and
the uncertainties of the future. Forgiveness doesn’t mean the hurt will stop right away. After all,
Jesus had a few more hours to go on the cross when he forgave those who had tortured and
crucified Him (Luke 23:34). Let’s also remember that Christ died for us while we were sinners
(Romans 5:8). The importance of this detail cannot easily be overstated, because very often it is
our ability to love those around us that will often determine the extent to which we will be able to
minister to them.
Love fosters unity, but it should never be unity at the cost of the truth. Disparities, disagreements,
and inconsistencies should be resolved rather than set aside. It is knowing the truth that makes
people free (John 8:32), and precisely how to cause them to know the truth is something which
cannot be determined by our own personal preferences, prejudices and opinions. Agape rejoices
in the truth (1 Corinthians 13:6), and so the impartation of genuine love is vital to causing dis-
ciples to accept truth and embrace it so that they may become truly free. This doesn’t mean that
there will never be confrontations or corrections, but rather that we must, even in confrontation,
be certain that we remain founded upon the Word, rooted in Christ and His love, and absolutely
committed to relying upon and obeying the Holy Spirit’s guidance, which will always be consistent
with the Word.
Now, there are many who will claim to have great love for God, His people, and the lost, yet an
examination of their habits and private conduct will show that their actions are ruled by self-inter-
est. One of the growing trends in ministry is the promotion of self-interest as being healthy and
righteous. Let’s examine this in the light of the Word:
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life
which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave
himself for me. (Gal. 2:20)
If then, Christ lives in us, and we live by His faith, then even our attention to our basic needs, ca-
reer goals, ministerial activities, etc., must be consistent with the character of Christ. The first law
of our old nature is self-interest; the first law of our new nature in Christ is self-denial and surren-
der of all to Him. Therefore, those things which previously would have seemed to be justified by
self-interest are now governed by the interests of God’s Kingdom. I eat, rest and exercise to care
for His temple, I pursue certain business goals for the purpose of financing the proper Godly care
of my family and the vision God gave me. Placing God’s interest at the heart of everything will not
only ensure that nothing goes neglected, but it will also protect you from the most dangerous foe
you may ever face: self will. Remember, Lucifer’s fall began with two words: I will. Remember,
love is not motivated by self-interest. (1 Corinthians 13:5)
This is particularly important because so many of us as leaders have preached a gospel that
is characterized by self-interest and the selfish, self-serving ideologies that come with it. I have
encountered churches in which every time prophetic ministry has occurred, a special offering is
raised, and the people are told that they need to “seal that word” with a “seed.” If we understand
that true prophetic utterance is based on God having spoken, and that the Bible says that God’s
word is forever settled (Psalm 119:89), then we will know that you and I don’t have to “seal” a
thing if God has truly spoken. Now, there may be times when God places a condition on some-
thing, but if we study the Bible, it was very rare for Biblical prophets who were right with God to
ask people for money. Is this pattern an idle detail? There’s nothing wrong with raising an offering,
but there is everything wrong with using ministerial gifts to entice people into giving (e.g., Micah
3:1-12).
If we are to walk in genuine love, we must also take care in how we delegate tasks so as not to
overburden anyone. I have seen more than a few leaders make unreasonable demands of their
people, and assign them to tasks that they would never lift a finger to do (Luke 11:46). I knew of
one leader who left their people waiting over 40 minutes in the cold because she had decided,
just before leaving for the service that night, to change her hairstyle, and only she had keys to
the church. Do we walk in love when we subject God’s people to our whims? Still another leader
became angry with one of his members when informed that the member would no longer be able
to do graphic design for the ministry because he no longer had access to the computer lab he
had been using to do it. This young man had been taking a train 50 miles for that purpose, hav-
ing neither a car nor a computer of his own. This leader often boasted of having nearly 60 pairs
of alligator shoes, but it had somehow never occurred to him that the ministry could have owned
an inexpensive laptop with good design software for the price of one pair of those lovely shoes.
Is this the love of Christ? Always remember, that, as a leader, a vital part of your mission is to
equip the saints and empower them for God’s purpose, and that a “leave ‘em twisting in the wind”
attitude may very well only serve to hinder the accomplishment of your vision.
We must also be sure that our own ambition does not cause us to deliberately keep those under
our care from stepping into their own destiny. As leaders, if we truly love God and His people, we
must take great care to come to a good understanding of God’s purpose for those under our care,
and then begin to take decisive action that will not only be conducive to the development of His
people, but that will also create opportunity for their advancement in His kingdom. Always bear in
mind that there may very well be facets of your vision which God will not permit you to personally
carry out, even as God did not permit David to build the temple he had envisioned, but rather as-
signed the task to his son Solomon. (1 Chronicles 17:1-14). Knowing this, consider the possibility
that God’s love expressed through you to a seemingly insignificant person in your midst could
very well be the one thing the future of your vision rests upon. How many apostles, prophets,
evangelists, pastors, and teaches sit in our pews week after week, unaware of their call or afraid
to pursue it because their leadership has convinced them that they must “know their place?”
A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye
also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one
to another. (John 13: 34-35)
We must, if we truly love the Lord and His people, make every godly effort to prepare His people
for the pursuit of their destiny, even if it means sending them out to launch their own works.
We presently live in a culture in which self-interest and selfishness are admired, and we must
take care not to allow that in our leadership. The present reality is that for most of us, when we
launched our ministries, we did so without the help of the leadership we were previously under,
and in many cases, we started out with opposition, resentment, and even curses spoken against
us by the leaders we had faithfully served. Jesus instructed us to do unto others as we would
have them do unto us (Matt. 7:12). According to Jesus, all men would know us as His disciples,
if we love one another. Yet, evangelical leaders have a fairly solid reputation for fleecing people
out of their money, and are often referred to as “pimps” by many. Some may say these things out
of ungodly motives, but all too often it is the truth.
We must also remember that love isn’t always touchy-feely or feel-good, but it can include correc-
tion. Some of us as leaders take up this part of things quite readily, yet we have not corrected in
love. Correction isn’t just telling someone off, or otherwise punishing them; that’s chastisement,
which is valid when done according to the Word. Love does indeed rejoice in the truth (1 Corinthi-
ans 13:6), and there may very well be times that you must share some harsh truths with people,
despite the fact that some may not be willing to receive it. Yet, we must always remember that
correction includes guiding people into what is good and right. Remember that after Peter denied
Christ, Jesus restored him (John 21).
So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me
more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto
him, Feed my lambs. He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou
me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed
my sheep. He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was
grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord,
thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
(John 21:15-17)
A good question to ask ourselves when making the various decisions we must make in ministry is
“am I feeding His sheep by doing this?” Some of us have been persuaded by culture and tradition
that to feed God’s sheep involves little more than preaching some good sermons and doing some
good teaching, but there is more to feeding them than that. After all the natural shepherd must
provide clean water, safety from the elements, protection from predators and parasites. All of
these things require a commitment of our time. When as a manager for a large company and had
to supervise 200 people at over 30 locations, my boss repeatedly told me, “Always have time for
people.” There was, at one point a problem occurring, and even though his day was already busy,
he committed a good deal of time to helping us resolve the problem. Although he was unsaved,
he taught me a good deal about mentoring and leadership. While it is good and fine to delegate,
we must take care to make time for God’s flock. Genuine love never disregards the needs or suf-
fering of others (1 John 3:16-17).
There was once a man who worked in a factory and needed to make some extra money for his
children to get braces for their teeth. He began to sell life insurance part-time in order to do so.
After some time, he began to train others to work under him, and within months he became the
very first person to make over one million dollars a year selling term life insurance. Eventually,
he became the first to earn over one million dollars a month selling term life insurance. How was
this possible? He invested most of his time in training and mentoring his people, equipping them
for success. Would this insurance salesman have been able to sell all that insurance himself?
NEVER! The more successful his people became, the more successful he became, and this oc-
curred because he trained them, and trained them very well. Is this a worldly principle? Not by
any means. Jesus Himself commanded us to pray for more laborers to be sent into the harvest
(Luke 10:2).
We must understand that fathers gain most of their honor through their sons, and this is clearly
shown in the Bible. Where would David’s vision for a grand temple be without Solomon? Abra-
ham was given the Promise, but Jacob became Israel, and that Promise was ultimately fulfilled
in Jesus Christ. Let us not forget that every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord for the
glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:11). If you are to truly fulfill God’s purpose, you will have
to raise sons and fully equip them to carry that purpose beyond the reach of your own life
and effort.
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