OUR DECLARATION OF LOVE!         GP 607   9/77
--A New Apostle's Creed!--All You Need Is LOVE!

         1. WE BELIEVE IN LOVE! Love for God & others, for "God IS Love!"--1Jn.4:8. THAT'S our religion--LOVE!
         2. Love is EVERYTHING, for without Love there is NOTHING!--No friends, no families, no fathers or mothers or children or sex or health or happiness or God or Heaven--there could be none of these without Love! And none of these is possible without God, for God is Love!
         3. THIS IS THE SOLUTION TO ALL OF MAN'S PROBLEMS OF TODAY AS WELL AS TO HIS PROBLEMS OF THE PAST: LOVE!--TRUE love, the Love of GOD & the love of FELLOWMAN!--The Spirit of God's divine Love which helps us all to fulfill His Great Commandment to love one another! This is STILL God's solution, even in such a complex & confused & highly complicated society as that of the World today!
         4. FOR IT IS MAN'S REJECTION OF THE LOVE OF GOD & HIS LOVING LAWS THAT CAUSES HIM TO BE SELFISH & unloving & vicious & cruel & unkind to each other, Man's inhumanity to Man which is so apparent in today's weary World with all of its enslavement by oppression, tyranny & exploitation, robbery by the rich, suffering from hunger, malnutrition, disease, ill health, overwork, evil abuse, the tortures of war & nightmares of perpetual fearful insecurity.
         5. ALL OF THESE EVILS ARE CAUSED BY MEN'S LACK OF LOVE FOR GOD & EACH OTHER & their defiance of His laws of love & faith & peace & harmony with Him, each other & His whole Creation. "For he that loveth not his BROTHER whom he HATH seen, how can he love GOD Whom he hath NOT seen?"--1Jn.4:20.
         6. IT'S REALLY JUST THAT SIMPLE: IF WE LOVE GOD, WE CAN LOVE EACH OTHER! We can then follow His rules of life, liberty & the possession of happiness, & all will be well & happy in Him!
         7. This is why Jesus said the FIRST & GREATEST commandment is to love--to "LOVE the Lord thy God with all thy heart, & with all thy soul, & with all thy mind... & the SECOND is LIKE unto it"--it's ALMOST equal, ALMOST the same--"thou shalt love thy NEIGHBOUR as thyself!"--Mt.22:36-40.
         8. Those He was speaking to then asked Him, "Who is my neighbour?" And with the story of the Good Samaritan, He tried to show them that it is ANYONE WHO NEEDS OUR HELP, regardless of their race, creed, colour, nationality, or condition!
         9. FOR IF WE HAVE REAL LOVE, WE CAN'T FACE A NEEDY SITUATION WITHOUT DOING SOMETHING ABOUT IT. We can't just pass by the poor man on the road to Jericho! We must take ACTION like the Samaritan did! (See Lk.10:25-37.) The Church System today says of those who need help, "Oh, I'm so sorry, how sad!" But COMPASSION must be put into ACTION! That's the difference between pity & compassion: Pity just feels sorry; compassion DOES something about it!
         10. WE MUST DEMONSTRATE OUR FAITH BY OUR WORKS, & love can seldom be proven without tangible manifestation in action. To say you love someone & yet not try to help them physically in whatever way they may need-food, clothing, shelter & so on--this is NOT love! True, the need for real love is a SPIRITUAL need, but it must be manifested PHYSICALLY in works--"faith which WORKETH by love!"--Gal.5:6.
         11. "For whoso hath this World's goods, & seeth his brother have need, & shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the Love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in DEED & in TRUTH!"--1Jn.3:17,18.
         12. However, we feel that the GREATEST manifestation of our love is not the mere sharing of our material things & personal possessions, but the sharing of OURSELVES & our personal services for others, which is our faith, & which results in our works & the sharing of our material possessions. Jesus Himself had nothing material to share with His disciples, only His Love & His life, which He gave for them & for us, that we too might have life & love forever!
         13. "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his LIFE for his FRIENDS!"--Jn.15:13. So we consider that the sharing of OURSELVES, our LOVE & our LIFE with others, is the greatest of all sharing & our ultimate goal, as well as our present means to that end.
         14. In fact, this is why God created Man to begin with: To LOVE!--To love & enjoy Him forever & to try to help others to do the same! It was GOD Who created love & gave Man the NEED to love & be loved, & it is HE alone Who can satisfy the deepest yearning of every human soul for total love & complete understanding.
         15. So although the temporal things of this Earth can satisfy the body, only GOD & His eternal Love can ever fill that aching spiritual void of every man's heart which He created for Himself alone! The human spirit, that intangible personality of the REAL you that dwells within that body, can never be completely satisfied with anything less than utter union with the great & loving Spirit that created it.
         16. He is the very SPIRIT OF LOVE ITSELF, TRUE love, EVERLASTING love, REAL love, GENUINE love that NEVER ends from a Lover Who never leaves, the Lover of all lovers, God Himself!
         17. He's pictured in His Son CHRIST JESUS, Who CAME for love & LIVED in love & DIED for love that WE might live & love FOREVER! "For God so LOVED the world, that he GAVE His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."--Jn.3:16.
         18. TO RECEIVE GOD'S LOVE IN JESUS, ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS OPEN YOUR HEART, PRAY & ASK HIM TO COME IN. Jesus promised, "Behold, I stand at the door, & knock: If any man hear My voice, & open the door, I WILL come in to him."--Rev.3:20. He waits lovingly & meekly at your heart's door, not forcing Himself upon you, not pushing the door open, but waiting for YOU to simply ask Him in.--Will you?
         19. WHEN YOU HAVE DONE THIS, YOUR WHOLE LIFE WILL BE CHANGED, like a newborn baby born into a whole new World with a new spirit as a new child of God! His Spirit within you will then enable you to do the humanly impossible: LOVE GOD & MAN!
         20. You will discover true happiness--not in your personal pursuit for selfish pleasure & satisfaction, but in finding GOD & giving His life to OTHERS & bringing THEM happiness! Then happiness pursues & overtakes & overwhelms you, personally, without even seeking it for yourself!
         21. "FOR WHATSOEVER A MAN SOWETH, THAT SHALL HE ALSO REAP!"--Gal.6:7. If you SOW love you're going to REAP love. If you sow friendship you're going to reap friendship. So obey God's LAW OF LOVE--unselfish love--love for Him & others, & GIVE that love which is His & their due, & so shall ye also receive. "For with the same measure that ye mete withal, it shall be measured to you again!"--Lk.6:38.
         22. FIND OUT WHAT WONDERS LOVE CAN DO! You'll find a whole new WORLD of love you have only dreamed of! There are wonders of love that you yourself can enjoy along with some other lonely soul--if you will only try! If you GIVE love, you'll GET love!
         23. Love wasn't put in your heart to stay, love isn't love till you give it away! Receive God's Love in Jesus TODAY! Hallelujah! He's the only Truth, the only Peace, & the only Way! Love never fails, for God IS Love!
         --LONG LIVE LOVE!
         --LOVE ONE ANOTHER!
         --LOVE IS GOD!--GOD IS LOVE!


Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family