Greater Love

This is my commandment, that ye love one another,
as I have loved you. GREATER LOVE hath no man
than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command
you.

John 15:12-14

1. God has a special kind of love, which is the greatest
kind of love in existence.
Behold, what MANNER OF LOVE the Father hath
bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons
of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it
knew him not.

1 John 3:1

But God, who is rich in mercy, FOR HIS GREAT LOVE
wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in
sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace
ye are saved;)

Ephesians 2:4-5

And we have known and believed THE LOVE THAT
GOD HATH TO US. God is love; and he that dwelleth in
love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love
made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of
judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

1 John 4:16-17

The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea,
I have loved thee with AN EVERLASTING LOVE:
therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.

Jeremiah 31:3

The Beloved and The Greater Love

I once knew a young lady who had a “beloved”. This beloved
young man wanted to marry the young lady but he did not treat
her well. He seemed to be torn between his “beloved” and some
other girls. Their relationship was tumultuous, to say the least.
One day, this young lady finally came home and said, “It’s over.”
She was tearful because her heart was broken by the ended
relationship. But I comforted her and told her that God would
give her somebody else. I promised her an even better “beloved”
and a greater love.

After some months God answered our prayers and a nice
young man came out of nowhere and fell in love with her. They
seemed to be enjoying their relationship and one day I asked the
young lady, “How is your new relationship?”
She smiled and said, “It’s far nicer than the first relationship.
God has been good to me.”

She was experiencing a greater love and a nicer relationship.
So I asked her, “Why is this relationship better?”
She said, “I didn’t even know I could be this happy. I didn’t
know there was a much greater love that I could experience.”

Indeed, this young lady experienced a greater kind of love.
This is how God’s love is. It is a far greater kind of love. Behold,
what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us!

2. There is “the love of brothers” but the love of Jesus is
greater.
Many families have disintegrated despite the fact that they are
related. They break up and fight each other time and time again.
The love of Jesus must be far greater than the love between
brethren.

Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth
through the Spirit unto unfeigned LOVE OF THE
BRETHREN, see that ye love one another with a pure
heart fervently.
1 Peter 1:22

The Kidney Donation

One day, there was a prayer meeting at which prayers were
offered up for a brother who needed a kidney donation. Those
present at the meeting declared their love for the sick brother and
their desire for him to continue to live through a kidney donation.
However, as the prayer meeting went on, it was realised that
no one was prepared to donate their kidney even though that was
what they were praying about. Finally, the leader of the prayer
meeting decided to allow God to choose whose kidney should
be donated. So he took a feather and told the gathering that he
was going to throw the feather in the air and whomever it landed
on would have to donate his kidney. Everyone agreed to this
process of divine selection.
He threw the feather in the air. Up it went and came sailing
down, amazingly in the direction of the leader himself. Suddenly,
the leader began to shout and blow at the feather to re-direct it,
so that it would not come to him. It was evident that no one was
prepared to donate his kidney; not even the leader.

It is one thing to say you love someone but it is another thing
to have the “greater love” which makes you sacrifice yourself for
him.

3. There is the love of women but the love of Jesus is
greater.

I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan: very
pleasant hast thou been unto me: THY LOVE TO
ME WAS WONDERFUL, PASSING THE LOVE OF
WOMEN.
2 Samuel 1:26

AND JACOB LOVED RACHEL; and said, I will serve
thee seven years for Rachel thy younger daughter. And
Laban said, It is better that I give her to thee, than that
I should give her to another man: abide with me. And
Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed
unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her.
Genesis 29:18-20

AND THE KING LOVED ESTHER ABOVE ALL
THE WOMEN, and she obtained grace and favour
in his sight more than all the virgins; so that he set
the royal crown upon her head, and made her queen
instead of Vashti.
Esther 2:17

The love of women is the love of the female body. With
this kind of love a man loves a woman and she gives her body
to him. The love for women is short-lived. Most women are
unable to keep the attention of a man for very long. I had a friend
who had two girlfriends. I asked him how he could have two
girlfriends at the same time. Then he answered, “I used to have
eight girlfriends when I was in sixth form but now that I am in the
university I have only two.”

The love of Jesus has lasted throughout the centuries. It has
persisted until it reached you and me. The love of Jesus Christ
is a far greater kind of love than the love a man can have for a
woman.
There are limitations with this “love of women”. Even the
most passionate couples need counselling shortly after they are
married. Many who say “I love you”; “You’re my dream”; “I’m
so happy I met you” will often say it to another person. Obviously
there is something missing from this “love for women”.

The Widow and The Greater Love

There was a certain pastor who lived happily with his wife
until he died unexpectedly. The wife was heartbroken and she
cried continually. Her pastor tried to console her but she could
not be comforted. She went to the graveside and wept from
morning to evening. She cried, she scratched and she clawed at
the grave. She wanted to pull her husband out of the grave.
One day, the pastor had a vision and he was taken to heaven
where he saw the husband of this lady. To his amazement, this
man was very happy in heaven. The dead man spoke to the
pastor and told him that he was very happy to be in heaven. The
pastor told him, “Your wife is crying everyday and she cannot be
comforted.”

Then the dead pastor told him something truly shocking.
He said, “Oh don’t worry about my wife. The Lord told me
when I got here that she was going to be ok and that He was even
going to give her a new husband who would be better than me.”
He continued, “Please tell my wife when you go that this is
what the Lord said.”
“But she won’t believe me,” the pastor responded.

“Don’t worry,” the dead pastor said, “I will tell you a secret
between her and me. When you tell her she will know that you
have spoken to me.”
Then the dead husband told him a secret that only he and his
wife knew.

After the vision, the pastor called this woman and told her that
he had seen her husband and that she was going to have a new
husband who would be better than the old one.
She said, “No way, it can never happen. I will never have a
new husband and no one could be better than my husband.”
Then he told her the secret. She screamed and said, “You had
been standing outside our window to listen to our conversation.”
It was then that she realised that the pastor had had a real
vision.

As time passed by she did marry again; and one day the pastor
asked her, “How is your new marriage?”
She smiled sheepishly and said, “Indeed this new husband is
far greater than my first husband. I am experiencing a greater
love.”

This lady experienced a greater love in her second marriage.
Indeed, there are lesser and greater loves. Jesus’ love is a far
greater love than the love of women or the love of the brethren.

4. There is the love for a nation but the love of Jesus is
far greater.

Although people love their nations, at certain times, when the
country is poor, they claim the citizenship of another country. A
lot of Ghanaians and Nigerians have changed their nationalities
and are now proud to be British, American, Italians and German
citizens. People change their accents and dissociate from their
countries at the slightest inconvenience. But Jesus Christ stayed
by His cross and died for the whole world. The love of Jesus
Christ is far greater than the love anyone could have for his
country.

5. There is the love of a mother for her children, but the
love of Jesus is greater.

Mothers can, and do forget their children. Some mothers drop
their children on a doorstep and turn away forever. Indeed, the
love of a mother is a great thing to behold. But it cannot be
compared to the greater love that Jesus exhibited when He gave
up His life for the whole world.

Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should
not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they
may forget, yet will I not forget thee.
Isaiah 49:15

6. The love of Christ is greater love because He sacrificed
Himself for us.

A man will usually give gifts to the one he loves. Jesus’ love
is greater because He did not give us money, houses or cars as
some do to show their love. He laid down his life! He gave His
life. He did not get to live to be 70 years. He poured out His
blood for us! His blood is His life! He gave us His life by giving
His blood.
HEREBY PERCEIVE WE THE LOVE OF GOD,
because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to
lay down our lives for the brethren.
1 John 3:16

And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness,
and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of
the kings of the earth. UNTO HIM THAT LOVED US,
and washed us from our sins in his own blood,
Revelation 1:5

The Man in the Deep Freezer

One day a young man met a lady and told her how much
he loved her. This young lady was enthralled by the love the
young man showered on her and decided to marry him. They
got married, moved into their new house and bought furniture,
a (chest) deep freezer, a fridge and all the things they needed to
make a happy home.
One night they were in bed when armed robbers broke into
the house. The husband managed to escape into the living room
but did not know where to go next. When he saw the new empty
deep freezer, it occurred to him to jump into it and hide there.
When the armed robbers could not find him, they beat up his wife
and maltreated her. As the wife screamed and called for help the
husband was nowhere to be found because he was hiding in the
deep freezer. When the armed robbers finally left, he came out
of the deep freezer to console his wife. But she would have none
of it.

“You don’t love me,” she said. “If you had loved me you
would have come out of the deep freezer to save me.”
The husband said, “I love you but not that much.”
Then he continued, “Don’t you understand? There is nothing
much that I could have done. Those guys would have killed me.
I would have lost my life trying to save you. I would have been
a hero but I would have lost my life.”
Later on when the lady went to church, she heard the pastor
preaching, “Greater love hath no man than this that a man lay
down his life for his friends.”
Then she realized that her husband had been unable to lay
down his life for her. Even though he did love her to an extent,
her husband’s love could not be compared with the love that
Jesus had for her. Jesus Christ laid down His life for her.

7. You Shall Not Escape If You Neglect Such A Great
Love

HOW SHALL WE ESCAPE, if we neglect so great
salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the
Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard
him;
Hebrews 2:3

The Desperate Young Lady

When I was in university, I knew many beautiful Christian girls.
There was this particular Christian girl who was outstandingly
beautiful. All the young men wanted to enter in a relationship
with her and marry her. She received many letters from many
young men. She simply read every letter and made fun of the
people who had written to her. She would show the letters to her
friends and they would have a good laugh. Eventually, she left
the university and fewer and fewer young men showed interest in
her. At a point no one proposed to her anymore.
As the years went by, she became desperate and decided to join
a church where the pastor did not have a wife. After some time
she realised that the pastor was not noticing her so she decided
to dance in front of him during the praise and worship time.
Somehow, he still did not notice her. Eventually, she decided to
go and propose to the pastor herself. Someone who was desired
and wanted by everyone had fallen to such a low state.
You see, if you reject great love you will one day regret it.
You will live to discover that you cannot escape if you neglect
the great love that Jesus offers.
The Grieving Widow
One day, I met a lady whose husband had died. Her husband
had been a pastor who had died in his early forties. She told me
how her husband loved to reach out and pat her body any time
he passed by her.

She said, “Anytime he walked past me at home, he would
touch me. But I did not like it. I did not appreciate his constant
touching.”
She proceeded to tell me about how he had been stricken by
cancer in the midst of his years. According to her, a time came
when he would lie down at home, unable to raise his hands.
She would pass by him, as at other times, but this time he could
neither raise his hands nor give her one of his cuddles.
She said, “As he lay there dying, I wished so much that he
would stretch his hand and touch me.”
But it was all over. The love that she rejected and complained
about was no longer available.