All You Need Is Love, Love. Love Is All You Need.

by Rex Rouis

Well Beatles, you got it almost right. Love might not be all you need, but it sure is most of what you need. If you do not have love, though, most of what else you might have will not matter much. Love is the most important thing to God and He, I remind you, is the most powerful force in the universe. The Bible says that “Love never fails.” It also says that of faith, hope, and love, love is the greatest all. Love is a necessary ingredient to faith and healing. Let us see why:

The New Testament has only one real requirement – Love

One day an expert in the law stood up to test Him. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus replied, “What is written in the Law, how do you read it?” He answered, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.” And He said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” Luke 10:25, 26-27, 28

Love God with all your heart, soul, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus also said that He didn’t come to do away with the Law but to fulfill it:

Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not even the smallest detail of God’s law will disappear until its purpose is achieved. Matthew 5:17, 18

Love is the fulfillment of the Old Covenant Law within the heart of the New Covenant Christian.

Under the Old Covenant seemingly small matters could get us into big trouble. With the New Covenant, matters of the heart are most important, and the most important heart matter is love. Love is the fulfillment of the Old Covenant Law within the heart of the New Covenant Christian. Easy right? Simple right? Not so fast. Under the Old Covenant, we could do godly actions with an ungodly heart attitude. Under the New Covenant, the New Man is expected to act correctly WITH a God-like attitude. Walking in love is contrary to this fallen selfish world. That is why the Bible tells us to continually put on the New Man of the New Covenant (Ephesians 4:24 and Colossians 3:10). It is a choice, and it takes effort. We must do it every day.

Why? Because we need to put on the New Man to please God, and to receive from Him. We cannot transgress the purpose of the New Covenant and then expect to receive the benefits of the New Covenant. It does not work like that. Eternal life, healing, and well-being are benefits of the New Covenant. We must do what it takes to receive them.

The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. John 10:10

Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. Matthew 6:33

He himself bore our sins” in his body on the tree, so that we might die to those sins and live righteously. “By his wounds you have been healed. I Peter 2:24

Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers. III John 1:2

Jesus came to give us a rich and satisfying life – to give us all that we need, to heal our bodies, and to prosper us. This can only happen if we stay aggressively within the principles of the New Kingdom. Calamity and distress will come, but we are to overcome the destructions of the world through faith (I John 5:4, 5), a faith that works only through love (Galatians 5:6).

One of the biggest ways we can act outside of God’s love is to choose to walk in unforgiveness. Unforgiveness is a huge problem that keeps us from receiving God’s blessings. Let me say that again – unforgiveness is a huge problem that keeps us from receiving God’s blessings.

Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven will also forgive you your wrongdoing. But if you don’t forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your wrongdoing. Mark 11:24, 25

For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you also. Matthew 7:2

We can’t transgress the purpose of the New Covenant and then expect to receive the benefits of the New Covenant.

If we desire to have someone’s redemption withheld from them, which is what unforgiveness is, God will withhold our redemption. His blessing does not come to those who do not want His blessing given to others. We determine the measure of our blessing by our love for others. His blessing is a gift. None of us deserve it; we have all sinned. Love, the Bible says, covers a multitude of sins (I Peter 4:8 and James 5:20). We must release the hurt to receive the relief. God is the one responsible for making sure that all things turn out correctly. He is the righteous Judge. We must trust that.

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.  I John 4:7

The door of healing is only opened by the key of love. We have been made new by God to love, believe, and receive. Love is the walk of God that leads straight to Him. We receive the faith of God when we walk in the love of God. We are not perfect (yet) but we are redeemed. Let us walk in the love of God to receive the blessings of God.

Love never fails