Love: The Greatest Calling

Good evening readers. Before we get into today's post, let's do a quick recap about the Body of Christ:


-Christ is the Head of the Body

-The Body of Christ (the church) is comprised of many parts, each possessing a specific role/responsibility.

-Every member of the body is mutually dependent on one another.

- No one part/member is more important/significant than the other.

-The Body is always unified and connected in everything. When one part suffers, the entire Body suffers. When one part succeeds, the entire Body succeeds.

-We must always intercede for one another (without ceasing), as this directly affects the church’s unified health and its ability to flourish and operate in power as intended.


How does love tie into the Body of Christ?



1 Corinthians 12: 27-31 (AMP)

27 Now you [collectively] are Christ’s body, and individually [you are] members of it [each with his own special purpose and function]. 28 So God has appointed and placed in the church [for His own use]: first apostles [chosen by Christ], second prophets [those who foretell the future, those who speak a new message from God to the people], third teachers, then those who work miracles, then those with the gifts of healings, the helpers, the administrators, and speakers in various kinds of [unknown] tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles? 30 Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? 31 But earnestly desire and strive for the greater gifts [if acquiring them is going to be your goal]. And yet I will show you a still more excellent way [one of the choicest graces and the highest of them all: unselfish love].



1 Corinthians 13:1-3 (AMP)

If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not [a]love [for others growing out of God’s love for me], then I have become only a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal [just an annoying distraction].2 And if I have the gift of prophecy [and speak a new message from God to the people], and understand all mysteries, and [possess] all knowledge; and if I have all [sufficient] faith so that I can remove mountains, but do not have love [reaching out to others], I am nothing.3 If I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body [b]to be burned, but do not have love, it does me no good at all.


So based on these two excerpts, it’s safe to say that if we’re not operating in the Love of God, all of our spiritual gifts, no matter how grand they appear, are indeed irrelevant.


That’s right….POINTLESS!!!


We discussed how the body is all interconnected and mutually dependent on one another. Each believer has his or her respective gifts and calling, but we are all yet linked to one another. A physical body consists of many different parts, but each part’s unique identity doesn’t leave it separated or apart from the rest of the body. All of a body’s members are bound together by muscle, sinew, and tissue.


As the Body of Christ, what binds US together?



John 13:35-35 (AMP)

34 I am giving you a new commandment, that you [f]love one another. Just as I have loved you, so you too are to love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you have love and unselfish concern for one another.”


So not only is it the Love of God that binds the Body of Christ together (the very essence of our unity), it is also our very identity. Love is what differentiates the church from the world.

And if that wasn’t enough, Love is not just what identifies us as believers, it’s a COMMANDMENT! (vs 34)

This commandment can been found periodically throughout Scripture.



2 John 1:6

6 Love means doing what God has commanded us, and he has commanded us to love one another, just as you heard from the beginning.



Romans 13:10

Love does no wrong to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the Law.


Galatians 5:14

The entire Law is fulfilled in a single decree: "Love your neighbor as yourself."


James 2:8

If you really keep the royal law stated in Scripture, "Love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing well.


Mark 12:29-31 (AMP)

29 Jesus answered, “The first and most important one is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord; 30 and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul (life), and with all your mind (thought, understanding), and with all your strength.’ 31 This is the second: ‘You shall [unselfishly] [h]love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

1 John 3:16 (AMP)

16 By this we know [and have come to understand the depth and essence of His precious] love: that He [willingly] laid down His life for us [because He loved us]. And we ought to lay down our lives for the believers.


We learned that when one member of the body suffers, the entire body suffers.


How does the Commandment of Love tie into this principle?

1 John 3:17-18 (AMP)

17 But whoever has the [a]world’s goods (adequate resources), and sees his brother in need, but has no compassion for him, how does the love of God live in him? 18 Little children (believers, dear ones), let us not love [merely in theory] with word or with tongue [giving lip service to compassion], but in action and in truth [in practice and in sincerity, because practical acts of love are more than words].

When one member suffers, the entire body suffers. So, when one of us is in need, the entire body shares the weight of that need. The Word says when we see a brother (member of the body) in need, and shut up the bowels of our compassion, the Love of God is not in him!

If it’s the Love of God that binds, connects, and unifies the Body of Christ, what happens when we don’t walk in Love as commanded?

This is why each member is mutually dependent on one another.

If we aren’t in Love, we are DIVIDED!!!

Jesus tells us in Matthew 12,

“Any kingdom that is divided against itself is being laid waste; and no city or house divided against itself will [continue to] stand.”

Suffice it to say, if we as believers (members of the Body) fail to walk in Love, the church cannot stand. We will never succeed. We simply CAN NOT be out of Love and walk in power as He intended.