John 13:35- Jesus said love would be the main character trait of a believer

[ChristisGod]

John 13:35
By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

1 Corinthians 13
If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Galatians 5:22-26
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

1 John 2
And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, 5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: 6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. 10 Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. 11 But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.

1 John 3
Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. 5 You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. 6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. 7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. 8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. 9 No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.

1 John 4
If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.

1 John 5
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. 4 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith


1-Gods unconditional love. How many times do we sin against God and He forgives us our transgressions against Him? Psalm 103:12- He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west. Isaiah 43:25- I, yes I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake and remembers your sins no more.


2- Love is the #1-character trait of a believer. The fruit of the spirit is Love from which all the fruit of the spirit flows. 1 Corinthians 13:2-7 describes love in action.

If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.


3- Husbands are to love their wives as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her. Ephesians 5:25.There are no conditions Jesus places on His bride. Jesus doesn’t hold her sins and unfaithfulness against her. He covers her sin, forgives and protects her.


4- Loving those who love you is not Gods love that is human love. Jesus said in Luke 6:32-33 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And indeed, if you do good to those doing good to you, what credit is it to you? For even sinners do the same. Luke 6:35- But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.

1 John 4:20- If anyone says, "I love God," but hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.

 

[ChristisGod]

continued :

miseó: to hate

Original Word: μισέω
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: miseó
Phonetic Spelling: (mis-eh'-o)
Definition: to hate
Usage: I hate, detest, love less, esteem less. properly, to detest (on a comparative basis); hence, denounce; to love someone or something less than someone (something) else, i.e. to renounce one choice in favor of another.

5- Love covers a multitude of sins, it doesn’t expose sin.

1 Peter 4:8- Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins.

Proverbs 10:12- Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers all transgressions.

Proverbs 16:28- A perverse man spreads dissension, and a gossip divides close friends.

Proverbs 17:9- Whoever would foster love covers over an offense, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends.

6- Love forgives as it’s been Forgiven.

Colossians 3:12-17
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Ephesians 4:26-32
“In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the devil a foothold. 28 Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.

29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

 

[farouk]

@Christophany I appreciate how the theme of love in John's Gospel is complemented by John's First Epistle's development of the theme...

 

[ChristisGod]

@Christophany I appreciate how the theme of love in John's Gospel is complemented by John's First Epistle's development of the theme...

Yes as he was the disciple whom Jesus loved. He talks more about love then any other NT writer and captures Jesus teaching on the topic. Johns gospel is my favorite book in the bible.

 

[ChristisGod]

Humility and Love are 2 sides of the same coin.

Humility- ‎The Greek term soon recurs in a list of virtues with which the Christian is to clothe himself; the person who dies and was raised with Jesus Christ is to put on "lowliness" (RSV, ‎tapeinophrosýn¢‎, Col 3:12; cf. Eph 4:2). It is part of the new aeon. The possibility of a wrong kind of humility clearly exists and is condemned by the Christian community. The "humility" of the old aeon is to be distinguished from the humility of the new aeon in that it is really a device of pride; it lets go of the head, Christ, and destroys the unity of the new community (Col 2:18f). The self-abasement whose end is some claim upon God or some favorable comparison with the neighbor is condemned. That kind of humility is at bottom religious pride. The Christian virtue makes no claim on God but submits to the reign of God; it makes no claim over against the brother but serves, forgives, and loves the brother and thus serves the harmony and peace of the new community. ISBE

Jesus is God in the flesh. He is God living and walking among men. As Jesus said to see Him is to see the Father. Jesus said in John’s gospel that He only did what He saw His Father doing and only said what His Father told Him to say. The pharisees were so enraged over this because as a “man “He was making Himself equal to God and tried to kill Him for those words and making such outrageous claims. So, if you want to know what God is like then we need to look no further than Jesus’s life on this earth living before us as our Immanuel. When we see Jesus, we see the Father and the Holy Spirit. This in Theology is known as Perichoresis. The inter-dwelling of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Son is in the Father, the Father in the Son and the Holy Spirit in the Father/Son. We read in John’s gospel that the Father glorifies the Son, the Son glorifies the Father and the Holy Spirit glorifies the Son.

So, we see not only are we to be humble it’s a command, God is humble as we see demonstrated in the life of Christ. Jesus Person is Divine as the 2nd Person of the Tri-Unity, the Trinity, the Godhead. Jesus was fully God while walking this earth as per Colossians 1:19 and Colossians 2:9. All the fulness of Deity dwells in Him. That means He lacked nothing in His Deity. So, Love and Humility are attributes of God. God would not ask us nothing that He doesn’t have in and of himself with His character in relationship with others. God created man in His image to be like Him. God is a relational Being and created us to be like Him in our relationships.

Be Holy, Be Righteous, Be Humble, Be loving, Be Just, Be Merciful, Be Meek, Be Pure in heart, Be Forgiving. Be Peacemakers. These are all characteristics of the Christian that come from God.

Philippians 2:1-11

Therefore, if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

6 Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!

9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.



1 Corinthians 13

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.



Galatians 5:13-26

You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. 14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness (meekness, humility) and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

Zechariah 9:9

Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; He is righteous and endowed with salvation, Humble, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

Blessed are the meek, the gentle the humble in spirit. Be humble before God will exalt you. God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you. The rewards of humility and the fear of the LORD are wealth and honor and life.

 

[ChristisGod]

Continued :

John 13:1-17- The humility of Jesus on display.

It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.2 The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. 3 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

7 Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”8 “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet. Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”9 “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”

10 Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” 11 For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not everyone was clean.

12 When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. 13 “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16 Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

Conclusion : ‎ Jesus could not be accused of the error of the Pharisees; He practiced humility as well as taught it. His life is an even more eloquent testimony to the meaning of humility than His teachings. He was submissive to the purposes and will of God, and although He was master and lord of His disciples, yet He lived among them as one who served (Luke 22:27; John 13:13). The prophecy of Zechariah, fulfilled in Christ, gives eloquent expression to this theme: "Lo, your king comes to you... humble and riding on an ass" (9:9). God’s activity of humbling the proud and exalting the humble.The same theme is present in the preaching of Jesus Himself. Matt 23:12 and Luke 14:11; 18:14 all attribute to Jesus the saying, "For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." Moreover, the same thought is expressed in Matt 20:16; Mark 10:31; Luke 13:30, "Some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last"; also in Mark 9:35 and Matt 20:27, "If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all," and in Matt 18:4, "Whoever humbles himself like this child, he is greatest in the kingdom of heaven." The profusion of this teaching — occurring in each of the Synoptic Gospels and at least nine times in the Synoptics altogether — is an indication both that the teaching is from Jesus Himself and also that it was very important in the early Church (cf. Minear, pp. 83-97). ISBE


hope this helps !!!

 

[farouk]

Humility and Love are 2 sides of the same coin.

Humility- ‎The Greek term soon recurs in a list of virtues with which the Christian is to clothe himself; the person who dies and was raised with Jesus Christ is to put on "lowliness" (RSV, ‎tapeinophrosýn¢‎, Col 3:12; cf. Eph 4:2). It is part of the new aeon. The possibility of a wrong kind of humility clearly exists and is condemned by the Christian community. The "humility" of the old aeon is to be distinguished from the humility of the new aeon in that it is really a device of pride; it lets go of the head, Christ, and destroys the unity of the new community (Col 2:18f). The self-abasement whose end is some claim upon God or some favorable comparison with the neighbor is condemned. That kind of humility is at bottom religious pride. The Christian virtue makes no claim on God but submits to the reign of God; it makes no claim over against the brother but serves, forgives, and loves the brother and thus serves the harmony and peace of the new community. ISBE

Jesus is God in the flesh. He is God living and walking among men. As Jesus said to see Him is to see the Father. Jesus said in John’s gospel that He only did what He saw His Father doing and only said what His Father told Him to say. The pharisees were so enraged over this because as a “man “He was making Himself equal to God and tried to kill Him for those words and making such outrageous claims. So, if you want to know what God is like then we need to look no further than Jesus’s life on this earth living before us as our Immanuel. When we see Jesus, we see the Father and the Holy Spirit. This in Theology is known as Perichoresis. The inter-dwelling of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Son is in the Father, the Father in the Son and the Holy Spirit in the Father/Son. We read in John’s gospel that the Father glorifies the Son, the Son glorifies the Father and the Holy Spirit glorifies the Son.

So, we see not only are we to be humble it’s a command, God is humble as we see demonstrated in the life of Christ. Jesus Person is Divine as the 2nd Person of the Tri-Unity, the Trinity, the Godhead. Jesus was fully God while walking this earth as per Colossians 1:19 and Colossians 2:9. All the fulness of Deity dwells in Him. That means He lacked nothing in His Deity. So, Love and Humility are attributes of God. God would not ask us nothing that He doesn’t have in and of himself with His character in relationship with others. God created man in His image to be like Him. God is a relational Being and created us to be like Him in our relationships.

Be Holy, Be Righteous, Be Humble, Be loving, Be Just, Be Merciful, Be Meek, Be Pure in heart, Be Forgiving. Be Peacemakers. These are all characteristics of the Christian that come from God.

Philippians 2:1-11

Therefore, if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

6 Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!

9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.



1 Corinthians 13

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.



Galatians 5:13-26

You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. 14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness (meekness, humility) and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

Zechariah 9:9

Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; He is righteous and endowed with salvation, Humble, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

Blessed are the meek, the gentle the humble in spirit. Be humble before God will exalt you. God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you. The rewards of humility and the fear of the LORD are wealth and honor and life.

@Christophany Such a glorious passage there from Philippians 2!

"Thus found in fashion as a man,
All blameless, spotless, pure,
He was obedient unto death,
Sin's judgment to endure."

 

[ChristisGod]

@Christophany Such a glorious passage there from Philippians 2!

"Thus found in fashion as a man,
All blameless, spotless, pure,
He was obedient unto death,
Sin's judgment to endure."

Yes one of my favorite passages in all of the Bible, Philippians 2.