The second, like it, is this, ‘You must love your neighbor as yourself.’

(Matt. 22:37-40) This type of love, principled love, is more than saying “I love you.” It is not an erotic attraction to another person. It is based on the highest principles, those enunciated in God’s book of good news, the Bible. It requires an in-depth understanding of what God’s will and purpose for mankind are and how people can act in unity and harmony in following the teachings of God’s Word.

7. How does this quality benefit Christians in their relationship to one another?

⁷ To illustrate the good news of this principled love that Christians are commanded to show, the apostle Paul in Colossians wrote about the attitude one must have to be pleasing to God. He said: “Accordingly, as God’s chosen ones, holy and loved, clothe yourselves with the tender affections of compassion, kindness, lowliness of mind, mildness, and long-suffering. Continue putting up with one another and forgiving one another freely if anyone has a cause for complaint against another. Even as Jehovah freely forgave you, so do you also. But, besides all these things, clothe yourselves with love, for it is a perfect bond of union.”​—Col. 3:12-14.

SAFEGUARDED AGAINST PRACTICES THAT PRODUCE DISUNITY

8, 9. (a) What are some causes of dissension, as shown in Ephesians 5:3-5? (b) What is required if the advice of Ephesians 5:3-5 is to unite all in the congregation?

⁸ From Paul’s comment it is readily seen that love is a perfect bond of union, resulting in a oneness, a unity or joining together of persons.