True Love Will Be Your Undoing

True love will be your undoing. Oh, it is easy to say that we should love God and love others, but it is next to impossible to carry out. The apostle John says that this is not a new command, but rather an old one (1 John 2:7, 2 John 1:5). And yet, it is the oldest life encompassing commands that are the most difficult. Jesus says that “there is no other command greater than these” (Mark 12:31). If you want to be great, you will have to love. If you truly love, you will die. True love will be your undoing.

This morning, I awoke to my Mom teaching a valuable lesson to my youngest brother and sister, Kaishawn and Avarie. “Do you want to have joy in your life?” my Mom asked.

“Yes!” said Kaishawn.

“Jesus wants us to be full of JOY. So, here is what we are going to do. We are going to spell out the word ‘joy’ on this piece of paper. The ‘J’ stands for ‘Jesus’, because we want to put Jesus first. What does Mommy do every morning before you guys get up?”

“You read your Bible,” replied Avarie.

“Yes, because I want to put Jesus first. When I get to know Jesus, I begin to see the ways that Jesus loves. And when I see the way that Jesus loves, I begin to love the way that Jesus loved. The ‘O’ stands for ‘others’, because we want to put others second. We love others because Jesus loved us first. He loved the world so much that He died for us. In the same way, we must love each other. So if you want to boss each other around, what would be the best way to love each other?”

There was a long pause. This is always the case when we know the good we ought to do, but in the deepest recesses we don’t want to admit the truth. Finally, Avarie said, “I guess that means that I would let Kaishawn go first.”

“Absolutely! Now, the last letter is ‘y’ which stands for ‘you’, because you will always come last.”

Can you see how love was Jesus’ undoing? Jesus knows what love is and He laid down his life for the world. He did not come into this world to condemn it (putting Himself first), but rather to save the world (putting His Father and others first) by His death (John 3:16-17). True love was Jesus’ undoing, but it led to both His resurrection and the gift of new hearts to all who truly believe.

There are some who will say, “We must emphasize the holiness of God, His truth and His anger at disobedience.” However, this is a misunderstanding of what true love is. True love is your undoing, because it is true. True love acknowledges that the penalty of sin is death, that someone must pay, and that we must die to ourselves. If you truly love, you know that love of God will lead to the radical love of others. Yes indeed, true love will be your undoing.

This week I am reminded that true love risks time, heart-break and money for the sake of teaching one soul what true love is. I watched as my Dad gave up a sum of money to help a neighbor whom he has both befriended and is teaching the greatest commands of God. And I sit here amazed at how He handed off the task of giving a neighbor a ride to another that He has been teaching to love God and love others. This is true love. True love will be your undoing, but it also will be your salvation through Jesus the King.