to will the good

Col. 3:14 (NLT)
And the most important piece of clothing you must wear is love. Love is what binds us all together in perfect harmony.

Love is the universal clothing we are invited to wear. It is a summary act. If you love, then you are kind, patient, etc. (1 Corinthians 13) What is love?

Love is to will the good of the other and act upon it.

Note two assumptions are made when you think of “love.” First, you know what good is and second love ultimately rests in action.

What is good? That is a key question when comparing worldviews. What is a good life in Christianity?

In Christianity one would say the good life is living in the Kingdom of God now. This is where the action of love comes into play. The practical application of love is to think “what would Jesus do if he were me in this situation?” and act upon it. The “good” is what he would do under my circumstances.

This is different than the typical way “love” is defined in society. “Love” is generally a feeling of pleasure towards. I “love” my wife. I “love” pepperoni pizza. You can quickly see how confusion can set in.

From a Christian context, to will the good of another and act upon it will not necessarily be pleasurable for the other. I love my children and there are times I deny them their pursuit of pleasure because it is not healthy for them according to the ways of God.

For example, I know it “feels good” for our daughter to use sarcasm toward one of her brothers but I don’t permit it. Her pleasure in this would not be healthy. When I say, “Stop,” I am acting out of love.

There is a lot of behavior that may bring pleasure that is no healthy. We have seen this in Paul’s opening remarks about sexual and other behavioral sin. The most loving thing a person can do in these situations is to be an influence on someone moving away from sexual sin and away from the will to control.