Have you ever stopped to think that everything in life runs according to rules and laws? Even mechanical items like cars, computers, and others things that can be operated come with “rules” or instructions. And if we freely comply with these rules and/or laws, and instructions, we reap great dividends, but if we disregard these life rules, we will meet failure.

Have you ever thought that the greatest motivation in life is love? This is actually one of those “life-rules”! We know that without love an infant cannot survive; without it children’s minds and character get warped; without it teenagers become delinquent, and homes break up.

And have you ever thought that, though love is a command, if we only love because it is commanded, it is not a genuine love. The nature of love is to be spontaneous, unselfish and outgoing, existing only for its own sake. It is to heal, not hurt, and is deeply distressed and grieved when unrighteousness rears its ugly head.

This is a very important principle to teach and recognize. Without this “rule of life”, institutions and nations have stumbled, crumbled and fallen, mechanical items have been ruined.

This right and righteous kind of love is called “agape”. It is the unselfish love that is concerned for the welfare of others, for their very good, their growth and up-building. It is the love that God has for us, God Who is the Creator and Father of all. It is the love that is unselfish, that does not seek its own advantages, that prefers the good of one’s neighbor to one’s own. It lifts one up and inspires to do unselfish deeds, to lead an unselfish life. It does not fulfill one’s selfish desires, but forgets self by serving one’s fellow man and finds fulfillment and happiness in such actions. The one who has “agape” as a life goal will overcome the thinking of our materialistic times and will truly be filled with the Spirit of God. He will reap the great dividends of those “life-rules” and be truly successful and prosperous in this life and the life to come.

“If the righteous receive their due on earth, how much more the ungodly and the sinner!” — Proverbs 11:31