Do Everything with Love
David W Palmer
(1 Corinthians 16:14 NKJV) “Let all that you do be done with love.”
Jesus’s expectation of our responsibility culminates in this Scripture. Through the Holy Spirit, he says that he wants us to do all that we do with love; love is the greatest! This ties in perfectly with where we began this series:
(2 Corinthians 5:14 NKJV) “For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died.”
(2 Corinthians 5:14 AKJV) For the love of Christ constrains us; …
“The love of Christ compels and constrains us (or ‘holds us together’).” This means that love both pushes us forward to do God’s will, and that it holds us back from doing other than his will. In other words, God’s own love—which he poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 5:5)—is the necessary motivation and empowerment for having all that we do “be done with love.”
Our wonderful Lord and example, Jesus, allowed love to compel and “move” him:
(Matthew 9:36 NKJV) But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. (See also: Mat. 14:14, Mark 1:41, 6:34.)
The original thought behind being “moved with compassion” saw it as being moved into action from deep yearnings—the seat of love within. Jesus didn’t simply “feel” pity or sympathy for the sick and needy; he allowed love to move him into action. If you like, both Jesus and the apostle Paul allowed God’s pure love to “arrest” them; they allowed this love to compel them to action despite the personal risk and jeopardy it put them in:
Jesus, moved by compassion and love, demonstrated God’s character through healing, loving, forgiving, leading, speaking truth, and serving. As a result, his opponents wanted to kill him; and later, with God’s consent and under his divine love and wisdom, they did. But the genius and sheer brilliance of God’s heart of love for all humanity, turned this murder around to be the very act of redemption that potentially saved us all—including those whose darkness and hatred willed for Jesus to die.
The apostle Paul risked all in fulfilling his call to act in love and to reveal God’s loving intentions. He too preached truth, healed, forgave, led, served, and confronted dark powers and their lies. Consequently, the adversary tried many times to kill him, stop him, run him out of town, or imprison him. Paul explained: “The love of Christ compels us.” He implied that no other force, power, motivation, or coercion in existence could motivate or empower him to do this.
Both Jesus and Paul also demonstrated the other side of being “constrained” by love; they showed supernatural temperance and meekness when they held back from responding, reacting, or retaliating against their enemies in anything but pure love.
The same Holy Spirit and love that worked in and through Jesus and Paul is in you and me. So let’s imitate them by doing everything we do with love, and by allowing God’s infinite power and love to constrain us—both pushing us forward into love’s compassionate actions and holding us back from defending, justifying, protecting, or hiding ourselves.
Today, let’s remember to do everything we do with love.
