Our time can safely be called the age of information. Information has become so accessible that, if I wish, without leaving home I can receive answers to almost every question in any sphere of human existence. This gives me an advantage over my predecessors in learning any science. But there is one eternal science that has not lost its power or changed in content, although it is hidden beneath the clutter of all kinds of knowledge. The name of this science is Love, which is Agape.
And if I enter this word into a search, Wikipedia gives me the following result:
“Love is a feeling inherent in human beings, a deep attachment and attraction to another person or object, and a feeling of profound affection. Love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue to the simplest pleasure. An example of such a wide range of meanings is the fact that a mother’s love differs from the love of a spouse, which, in turn, differs from a love of food or love for one’s homeland.”
This is followed by a brief explanation of several kinds of love. It is very difficult to call this a science. Although a great many songs have been written about it and people speak about it very often, few study love as a science, digging into profound knowledge and making amazing discoveries for themselves. Why has God allowed His love to be treated with such neglect? Why is this greatest and most precious Heavenly treasure neither sought after nor valued by those who need it so much?
The most interesting thing is that love is eternal and unchangeable. Its principles are founded upon the most solid foundation, which is love itself.
If we gave everything that we study in our school to the Apostle Paul to read, I think he would say that it harmonizes with his understanding, apart from certain specific terms such as automobile, telephone, and so forth.
Love has endured many millennia of sin and lawlessness. It has seen much, and one day it came into our world in human Form and was crucified by people, yet it did not cease to be love and did not betray a single one of its principles.
All the wars that have ever taken place on Earth have not changed God’s law, introduced a single amendment into the Bible, or made love weak and foolish. It continues to draw human hearts to itself and, during military conflicts, remains the very best means of healing.
What should be done when innocent blood is being shed, people are dying, and there is no end in sight to human suffering and grief? How can one make sense of this chaos and horror of human lawlessness? Upon whom should vengeance for the blood be taken, and will this solve my problem? Vengeance does not solve these difficult problems or provide a way out of the dead end, but it does guarantee a mental disorder. And what if this is an unceasing process? If this meat grinder continues for years, how can one live in such surroundings?
For example, the Second World War lasted six years, and during that time, according to average estimates, approximately 75 million people died in it, most of whom were innocent civilians. That is an immense number. Try raising the subject of love and forgiveness against the background of these figures and sufferings, and people will simply not understand you, or they will make you part of those statistics. But love endured even this and continues to remain itself.
Yet every war comes to an end, and life must go on; ruins must be rebuilt, bridges constructed, and friends gained. Here an evil spirit will not help. Someone timidly remembers love and begins to live by it, and a miracle of healing takes place. The spirit of forgiveness removes vengeance, grief, and anger and brings peace and rest into the heart. The soul finds its quiet harbor and begins to make plans and dream about prospects for development.
Our world was created by Love for love, and this is its normal condition. The enemy of souls tries to introduce his own values and destroy people’s way of thinking, but in the end, Satan and his teachings will be destroyed forever, and the world will come to Eternal Love, which has not changed but, having passed through various trials, has remained itself.
Why invent conjectures and seek a substitute for love? It exists and always will, and there is no escaping it. It will cast off the clutter of sciences and teachings alien to it and shine with even greater power, and nothing will extinguish it.
That which is eternal will remain eternal because it is eternal.
Love is the everlasting gospel that will be proclaimed, and everyone will hear it, but not everyone will understand it, and not everyone will accept it. But will this light become darkness if I remain ignorant? For me, perhaps it will, but if love is darkness, how great is that darkness?
I think that if I understand that there is something eternal, bright, unchangeable, and imperishable, of which we are made and which we need, and that it is a science, then it is worth finding, knowing, studying, accepting, and living in this knowledge while discovering new facets of it.
What will I lose if I give preference to love and begin to comprehend its depth? Will I become poorer? No. Will I lose my health? No. Will misfortune enter my life? No. Will I become more foolish? No. Then what will I lose? Pride, an evil temper, fear, hostility, deceit, anxiety, evil lusts, sinful addictions, adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, strife, envy, wrath, contentions, dissensions, heresies, hatred, murders, drunkenness, reveling, and such like. Then let them go!
And what will I gain by comprehending the science of love? Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, goodness, mercy, faith, meekness, and temperance.
There is something to think about.
So, does this mean that if I comprehend love, I will become the happiest person in this world? And even if everything around me is collapsing and dying, do I run the risk of possessing stable peace and tranquility of soul while rejoicing in the Lord and growing deeper in the knowledge of God’s love? Is this not too good for one person? Is there some kind of catch? Perhaps someone wants to draw me into some sect where I will stop drinking, smoking, committing fornication, and using foul language? How will I then look in normal society?
Nevertheless, what I will gain is far more valuable than what I will lose. It is worth trying. If I am going to build something, let it be upon an eternal foundation!
Will love be the same a billion years from now? No. It will be more beautiful, open, explored, and accessible than it is today. If now it resembles a small lamp burning in the darkness, then it will shine throughout the entire Universe thousands of times brighter than the sun. Then the expression “God is Love” will no longer be a mystery to us but will become an eternal picture, open to knowledge, admiration, and study—a picture that we will approach forever, in which we will forever discover new facets and forever marvel at its boundless depth.
Then what is the purpose of God’s law if it does not save? The law reveals to me the absence of God’s love in my heart and shows me that without it I cannot be obedient to the spirit of the law, although I may keep the letter or pretend that I do. Love brings my life into complete harmony with God’s requirements and fulfills them at the level of my thoughts without violating the letter either. Love is the fulfilling of the law, and it thinketh no evil.
Why is love eternal? It can possess no other quality, for it is the foundation and essence of all existence and universal creation; by it everything is held together, moves, lives, and exists.
Homework 249
In the light of our lesson, please read Jeremiah 31:3; John 17:3; Proverbs 8:22–36; Hebrews 13:8; Romans 13:10; 2:6–11; 1 John 4:16; Acts 17:25–28; Revelation 1:8; 14:6; 2 Corinthians 3:3–4; 1 Timothy 6:16; Romans 2:29; 1 Thessalonians 5:23–24; Psalm 51:10; Ezekiel 36:26–27, 31; Galatians 5:17–24; and Titus 1:2. Did you learn anything new from this lesson? Why is love eternal, and why must it logically be eternal? Is it worth building your life and your plans upon an eternal foundation? If love is not the eternal foundation of Eternal Life, then what is? Why is love so important in relationships with our neighbors? After all, is it not possible to have business relationships without love? How do you envision Eternal Love? Will it not be eternally boring? Why is it worth comprehending love and becoming established in it forever, beginning even now? If my relatives, who do not know Christ personally, see no love in me and accuse me of being the embodiment of evil, is their assessment true? Does Satan love his subjects? What should I do if I see that I do not have love? What happens when I begin to pray for the gift of love? Am I worthy to possess love, to live by it always, and to have it eternally?