When asked what the greatest commandment was, Jesus summarised the Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament) with these words: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind… Love your neighbour as yourself” (Matthew 22:37–39).

This should be the central mark of a disciple of Christ. Our love for God will be evidenced by wholehearted devotion to God, with no place for any rivals of God in our hearts. This includes the sinful self which loves to sit on the heart’s throne.

The one clear sign that we love God is that we will obey Him without reservations. Jesus said, “If you love me, keep my commands” (John 14:15) and “Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me” (John 14:21).

A person who does not obey God cannot claim to love God. But a person whose love for God is growing will also demonstrate growing obedience.

If we really love God, we will also love those around us. The apostle John noted the strong connection between love for God and others. He challenged his readers, “Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar” (1 John 4:20).

The apostle James calls this other-directed love the “royal law” (James 2:8), and the apostle Paul says it sums up the entire law (Romans 13:9; Galatians 5:14).

What does this love for others look like? We have many descriptions in the Bible, the most famous being Paul’s great portrayal of love in 1 Corinthians 13. There, we read what love is not and what it is. Love is not self-centred. It is not boastful, proud, envious, revengeful, rude, or easily angered; it does not keep grudges or delight in evil. Instead, love aims for the good of others. It is kind, patient, and forgiving, always full of trust and hope; it therefore perseveres and will never fail.

Augustine in the fifth century described love this way: “What does love look like? It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. That is what love looks like.” I would add, “That is what Christ looks like.”

The Christian who grows in love will look more and more like Christ. He will have the eyes of Christ, who says to us, “I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest” (John 4:35). We need to see others as Jesus saw them (Matthew 9:36): harassed (no rest), helpless (no power), and like sheep without a shepherd (no guidance).

We also need to have the ears of Jesus to hear the cries of the needy (Mark 10:47–49) and the heart of Jesus to see others with compassion (Matthew 9:36). We are, in the words of C. S. Lewis, “little Christs” who show Him to others in how we relate with them.

We do not need to wait till we feel love, for love is more than an emotion; it is a commitment rooted in Christ. In his book Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis wrote, “Do not waste your time bothering whether you ‘love’ your neighbor; act as if you did. As soon as we do this, we find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him. If you injure someone you dislike, you will find yourself disliking him more. If you do him a good turn, you will find yourself disliking him less.” Such love is divine in origin and is marked by selfless sacrifice and self-giving love.

There are people who need our love as we grow in Christ. We need to realise that old age is “not a punishment but a privilege” and see beyond our own needs. When we do this, we may notice that there are people around us who will appreciate our caring concern for them.

Mamie Adams always went to a branch post office in her town because the postal employees there were friendly. She went there to buy stamps just before Christmas one year and the lines were particularly long. Someone pointed out that there was no need to wait in line because there was a stamp machine in the lobby. “I know,” said Mamie, ‘but the machine won’t ask me about my arthritis.

Is there not a message for all of us here?

Consider this:
Jesus continues His ministry through us today. In what specific ways will you demonstrate the presence and character of Christ in your life?

Excerpted and adapted from Growing Old Gracefully by Robert Solomon. © 2019 by Robert Solomon. Used by permission of Discovery House. All rights reserved.