God loves us so much. That is why He came to this earth and willingly endured such extreme suffering for us. When He breathed His last breath at Golgotha, He endured the agony of death for us. He worried about us and prayed for us.

All 66 books of the Bible repeatedly emphasizes that God is love. We, who have been called by God earlier to abide in the truth, have to understand the great love of God and put it into action in a practical way.

God has let us participate in the gospel work, so that we may preach His love to the whole world. If we have understood the love of God, shouldn’t we share it with others?

Unless we show the love that we have received from God to people in the world, they will never be able to understand what God’s love is and how it works. We ought to let them know the love which God has shown us and put the true love into practice, so that they, too, can be saved.

Win-win minded people

Some anthropologists say that there are three kinds of people in the world: lose-lose minded people, win-lose minded people, and win-win minded people. The first type of people make not only themselves but also others losers. The second type of people do not consider others but think only of themselves; most of the world’s people belong to this second group. The third type of people seek others’ interests as well as their own; they are few but from them comes the power that moves the world.

It is the win-win minded people who please God. They themselves do what brings God’s blessing and also lead others to be blessed by sharing God’s love with them. We, who are born again through the truth and dwell in Zion, must all change our mindset from lose-lose or win-lose to win-win, so that we can put the love of God into practice as God’s true workers and receive many blessings from God.

If we still have a lose-lose or win-lose mindset, from now on we should develop a win-win mindset and glorify God as God’s children.

1 John 4:5-8 … Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

Those who do not love are the ones who do not yet know God; for they fail to fully understand God’s divine nature. Since they do not understand God’s will properly, how can they do God’s work and please God?

An example of good brothers

Let me tell you a story of “Good Brothers.” There were two brothers in a village. They worked hard in the fields inherited from their parents. When the harvest came, they gathered the grain and divided it equally.

After returning home, the younger brother came to think: ‘I’m single, but my brother has his wife and children. I was mistaken in dividing the grain with him equally.’ That night he carried rice sheaves from his storehouse into his brother’s secretly.

Meanwhile, the elder brother had the same thought: ‘I’ve already made a home, but my brother is still single. He needs much more money than me to make a new home. I was mistaken in halving the grain with him.’ That night he also brought his rice sheaves into his younger brother’s storehouse stealthily.

The next morning, the two brothers noticed that their rice sheaves were the same as before and they wondered. That night, too, each of them brought his rice sheaves into his brother’s storehouse. The next morning, their rice sheaves were also the same as the day before. That night and the next night they did the same thing. Finally, on bringing their rice sheaves, they saw each other. Seeing how deeply they loved each other, they threw themselves into each other’s arms and wept.

This kind of brotherly love comes from a win-win mindset. If the brothers were win-lose people seeking their own interests, it would be a totally different story; the elder brother would scold the younger for taking the same share as that of him who had a larger family to support, and the younger brother would take a defiant attitude toward his brother who did not understand his situation and rebuked him?their brotherliness would be impaired and they would not be at peace with each other.

Ps 133:1-3 How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity! It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron’s beard, down upon the collar of his robes. It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the LORD bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.

The most beautiful and pleasing thing in God’s sight is our unity in Zion. When all the members of our spiritual family in Zion understand one another and look after the interests of other members, not our own, how pleased our God will be! How beautiful it is if we share everything together and take care of one another, rejoicing together when brothers are joyful and feeling sorrow when they are in pain and always caring about other members more than ourselves!

However, if we are carried away by our own emotions, not taking other members’ situations or circumstances into consideration, and hurt them, it is not a win-win attitude that pleases God. If we do not wish for the well-being of our brothers and sisters, we will esteem ourselves more highly than them, so that we cannot neither love them nor please God.

Like the two brothers in the story, we should love one another deeply. By putting ourselves in the place of our brothers and sisters, we have to understand them and look after them. This kind of loving mindset is one of God attributes, which the devil can never have. We are to resemble the nature of God and love one another.

Love brings forth unity and victory

This is what happened during the Korean War. On a hill called the “Blood Ridge,” there were fierce battles between South Korea and North Korea just before the cease-fire; Taegeukgi (the South Korean national flag) was hanging in the daytime, and the North Korean flag during the night. A military unit was ordered to defend the hill to the point of death. The soldiers defended day and night the first day, the second day, the third day … As the battle continued, the supply route was cut off and they ran out of water and food.

One day a soldier, hit by a bullet, was eagerly asking for water. Other soldiers shook their canteens when they saw their fellow soldier groaning in pain, but none of them had water. At that time, one soldier gave his canteen to the wounded soldier; there was just a mouthful of water in the canteen. When the injured soldier was about to drink the water, he felt the eyes of all the thirsty soldiers focused on him. He could not drink the water; he merely pretended to drink the water, and passed the canteen to his commander beside him. The commander, watching this nearby, understood the soldier’s mind and just pretended to drink as well, and then he gave the canteen to another solider nearby. ‘Gulp,’ ‘gulp,’ … When all the soldiers gulped and the canteen returned to its owner, the amount of water in the canteen remained the same as before they drank it, but strangely enough none of them felt thirsty anymore; moreover, they regained their strength and their morale became higher, so that they could defend the hill to the end.

If they had a win-lose mindset and thought, ‘I’ll only quench my thirst,’ they would all have been wiped out. However, each of them cared for his fellow soldiers more than for himself. As a result, all of them could survive. Love works such miracles.

Such an example should be set more in Zion than anywhere else. If we have a win-win mentality, our difficulties will turn into opportunities. Love makes everything possible; it enables us to harmonize with each other, so that we can overcome any hardships and win a victory. Love brings forth unity and victory.

The characteristics of the love of God

1 Corinthians 13 describes well God’s win-win love.

1 Co 13:1-4 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

One of the primary characteristics of God’s love is patience. Think how long God has been patient with us; for six thousand years He has been waiting for us all to repent through His words. Surely patience is inherent to God’s nature.

Love is self-giving; it is kind and does not envy. Jealousy occurs in those who have a lose-lose or win-lose mentality; they are so jealous and envious of other people’s good fortune and success. Arrogance arises when we consider ourselves better than others. However, love is other-esteem, not self-esteem; it is not proud or arrogant.

Even the Most High God, the Creator, came down to this earth and served us, sinners (Jn 1:1-14; Lk 22:24-27). Since even God the Creator served others, how dare we sinners exalt ourselves?

We may have some titles such as pastor, elder and deacon in the Church, but we must not consider other members lower than ourselves. And we do not need to feel inferior even though we have no title. All this is the result of arrogance, which God hates.

1 Co 13:5-13 It [love] is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away … And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

We become rude when we consider ourselves higher than others. We ought to abandon that kind of thought. When we resemble God’s nature, God gives us much fruit.

God’s love is not rude; it is not self-seeking; it is not angered. The anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God (Jas 1:20, NASB). With a win-win mindset, God’s love keeps itself from evil and continuously encourages others to never become wicked; love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

God gives us so much love; we must not betray God’s love by doing what goes against His will. As God has loved us, so we should love one another.

When the Jews fought against Arabians after regaining their sovereignty, their love toward their country made them one; with a population of only four million, Israel won the battle against Arabia which had a population of over a hundred million. They strongly opposed the Arabians who afflicted their nation; all who troubled the Jews came to tremble with fear, and they did not recklessly kill or wound them anymore.

Their ardent love for their country made all the Jews, scattered throughout the world, go back to their home country in a hurry. Of course, there was a blessing from God, though physical, behind their victory; for they had been keeping the old covenant. Anyway, their brotherly love is a good example for us, the spiritual Jews, today.

We are to resemble God, who is love. We should love God and the truth, and we should love Zion and our spiritual family as well. Let us give much love and encouragement to our spiritual brothers and sisters who display the glory of Zion. God has clearly said that the greatest of all is love. If we do not put God’s love into practice, it shows that we still do not believe God’s words.

Let us not expect someone to serve us. If we still remain infants in our faith and just want to be served, from now on let us have an adult faith to serve our brothers and sisters first, who work hard for the glory of Zion.

The devil is supposed to lose the spiritual war in the last days; for he has no love. As the children of God who is love, let us love one another, so that we can take our stand against the devil’s schemes to make us jealous of one another and fail to become one. With a win-win mind, let us lead both ourselves and others to the way of blessing.

This is why God has told us to preach the gospel. Preaching is the best way to practice God’s love. When we preach the gospel, our hearts are filled with love and consequently we can resemble God. Let us all share God’s love and blessings together, so that we the 144,000 can love one another as brothers and sisters resembling God who is love.