'Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love' (1 John 4:8). These words are taken from the Bible and provide much of the motivation behind Lutherans for Life’s (LFL) work.

Love is a word that gets thrown around a lot these days, and sometimes examples of love are pretty thin. The type of love we’re talking about is not just a feeling. True love involves shaping our choices and actions in a way that requires us to give of ourselves, even if it hurts.

We know this because God himself, who is love, came down from heaven in the person of Jesus Christ. Through his life and death, Jesus is the perfect expression of love. His love was never selfish but always motivated by the needs others, and especially the most vulnerable.

We are not capable of loving in the same perfect way that Jesus did. Nevertheless, he leads us to live lives that reflect his love. Jesus guides us to love God first and foremost, and also those around us. He says:

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength ... Love your neighbour as yourself (Mark 12:30–31).

We must again look to the example of Jesus to understand what it means to love in this way. The two commandments given to us by Jesus are ultimately connected because one of the ways we love God is by loving and serving our neighbour. This is the very thing God created us to do in the first place!

In his life here on earth, Jesus showed a special kind of love and attention to those at the margins of society. He wants us to do the same.

LFL has developed a special ministry which seeks to bring community awareness to the dignity of all human persons, born and unborn, and especially those whose lives others might be tempted to call 'useless'.

We are a ministry motivated by God’s love, knowing that we can only love because he first loved us (1 John 4:19).