The Great Commandments: Paul’s Example of Pure Love
Attached is a reflection paper I wrote for my Religion 212 class taught by Lincoln Blumell (with slight modifications for this blog specifically) regarding the Apostle Paul. Paul is one of my heroes, as those of you who I have discussed this with at length will know, and I truly believe him to be one of the greatest Christians of all time. I hope you enjoy.
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‘The Beheading of St. Paul’ by Simon de Vos (1603-1676).
From his very first introduction in the Book of Acts to his final penned words recorded in 2 Timothy, the Apostle Paul is a man who, if nothing else, knew the first great commandment and had it engraved in his heart, namely to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul” (Deut. 13:3, cf. Luke 10:27). Love, Paul taught, “never faileth,” and as we develop the gift of love (or charity, as rendered in the King James Bible), we can become more like our Father in Heaven (1 Cor. 13:8). Paul's most famous treatise on love was written to the Corinthian saints in 1 Corinthians. According to the opening verses of 1 Corinthians 13, love was the most fundamental and essential characteristic of a Christlike life. Even if you were to be blessed with spiritual gifts to teach and could speak as an angel or laid down your life as a martyrs witness, your testimony would be in vain if it was not done as an act of love (see 1 Cor. 13:1-3). Love led one to be patient, kind, forgiving, and selfless (1 Cor. 13:4-7). Throughout his ministry, Paul would exemplify each of these divine attributes of love, even laying down his life for the Lord. Paul began his ministry in Acts, however, not for the newfound Christian church, but against it. A Pharisee, Paul saw the Christians as heretics blaspheming the Lord and wanted nothing more than to defend the Lord and His name. In his zeal and love for God, Paul unknowingly found himself fighting against God, until he had a revolutionary experience while on the road to Damascus. What is telling of Paul’s love for the Lord is not what he had done before he saw Christ in a glorious vision, but what he said and did during and immediately after that vision. Having fallen to the ground after hearing the voice of Jesus Christ, Paul first and foremost asks “what wilt thou have me to do?” (Acts 9:6). I do not imagine this would have been an easy question for Paul to ask – having just been informed that his zeal was misplaced and that Jesus was indeed the promised Messiah, Paul undoubtedly remembered starkly why he was on the road to Damascus in the first place and what he had done to other Christians. These acts – including stoning Stephen the deacon (see Acts 7) – were so terrible that even the Christian church as a whole were worried, even terrified, of welcoming Paul into the Church (see Acts 9:13, 26). When confronted with the harsh reality that he had sinned grievously before God while believing he was working to honor God, Paul only desired what he could do to make it right, if such an act would even be possible. Ever since that moment, Paul had changed his course on life. He sought to repair damaged relationships, heal others of their ignorance or other infirmities (whether physical or spiritual), and worked to bring others to a knowledge of their Father in Heaven. Emulating the life and ministry of Christ to the best of his ability, Paul ultimately lived Jesus’ counsel to the Apostles in word and in deed, namely, that “greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). Paul left on at least three lengthy missionary journeys, traveling to the ends of the earth, giving up the comforts he knew, even to the point of imprisonment and eventual death in Rome. Paul’s death, like the other early Christian martyrs, showed in essence a reverse of Christ’s own death – as God so loved the world that He condescended to suffer death for us, Paul loved God so much that he welcomed a martyr’s death. God, in essence, had died to save mankind; Paul had died in defense of God. Paul’s love extended to both God and his fellow neighbors and converts in the Gospel of Jesus, showing a desire to follow the second great commandment as well. Having devoted his life to follow and love the Lord, he grew to love his fellow man all the greater. His love for those he taught can especially be seen in his epistles to the saints in Corinth. After having written to them in a lengthy rebuke for various challenges that the Corinthian saints were dealing with, Paul rejoices upon learning that the Corinthians had corrected their behavior since his last letter. “For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote unto you with many tears,” Paul later wrote, “not that ye should be grieved, but that ye might know the love which I have more abundantly unto you” (2 Cor. 2:4). Having to rebuke people who he had grown to love had hurt Paul deeply and immensely, perhaps in the same way that a father aches for a wayward child and will have to lovingly rebuke them to help them grow. Paul did not rebuke the Corinthians so that they might know of his detest for their actions, but he wanted them to grow, improve, and progress, as anyone who loves another person desires for them. Another moment of selfless love can be seen near the end of Paul’s life. To Timothy, Paul wrote that Demas, Crescens, and even the great missionary Titus had abandoned Paul in his moment of need; he found himself abandoned by virtually all would-be friends, yet, in a moment of Christlike love and emulation of His final moments in mortality, Paul prayed “that it may not be laid to their charge” (2 Tim. 4:10-11, 16, cf. Luke 23:34). It would be easy to become angry at those who he had trusted to stay with him in his darkest hour and speak harshly against them, yet Paul chooses instead to hope that the Lord would forgive those who have wronged him so deeply. Paul constantly found himself choosing the harder road of love and forgiveness rather than the easier road to loathing and embitterment. Through Paul’s life and ministry a pure testimony of a love for God and for others is seen; he desired to recognize God in all aspects of his life and learn how to better accept correction from the Lord, even when that was hard. Indeed, he loved the Lord more than he loved himself, and through that love, was able to change the world. |
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