WHAT IS LOVE?

WHAT IS LOVE?

In truth, it’s one of the most important questions any of us will ever ask!  Love has been written about, talked about, sung about, debated about, and yes, even argued about for thousands of years!  So, let’s get to it.

Let’s start with the words of the Author and Finisher of our faith, Jesus Christ: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.  By this all will know you are My disciples, if you have LOVE for one another.” (John 13:34)

In light of the divine perspective on love, consider these questions.  Is love a WARM FEELING, as many people think?  Is it an EMOTION that is subject to change, oscillating up and down depending upon what might be happening in the moment?  Is love a KISS, or is love a HUG, or is love the GOOSEBUMPS or THRILL we might feel when seeing someone who ‘looks’ a certain way to us?

WHAT IS LOVE…REALLY?

Let’s look at what the scriptures say about it.  THE WORD declares that “GOD IS LOVE!”

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for GOD IS LOVE. (I John 4:7-8)

Now, let’s consider what could be the clearest and most concise New Testament dissertation on love, I Corinthians, chapter 13.  The Message translation is reprinted below, along with a few related scriptures and my brief commentary.

If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.  If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing.  If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.

I Corinthians, chapter 13, continues…

LOVE NEVER GIVES UP. 

[It has been wisely stated that “A winner never quits, and a quitter never wins!”  So as the Word advises, we must “be STEADFAST and UNMOVABLE,” both in our faith and in our love. (I Corinthians 15:58)]

LOVE CARES MORE FOR OTHERS THAN FOR SELF. 

[That’s called “AGAPE,” which means unselfish commitment to loving others.  Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.” (John 15:13)  In fact, “GOD LOVED” and “GOD GAVE!” (John 3:16)]

LOVE DOESN’T WANT WHAT IT DOESN’T HAVE.                                                                             

[GREED is one of the major causes of division and divorce.  Paul wrote, “Godliness with CONTENTMENT is great gain.” -I Timothy 6:6  Also Paul stated, “I have learned in whatever state I am, to be CONTENT.” (Philippians 4:11)]

LOVE DOESN’T STRUT, DOESN’T HAVE A SWELLED HEAD, DOESN’T FORCE ITSELF ON OTHERS.

[Since humility is an indispensable component of true love, marriage might be properly viewed as a divinely-appointed ‘learning zone’ for personal humility.  James 4:10 says, “HUMBLE YOURSELVES in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.”  Here’s the thing: You and I don’t have to ‘win’ all the time!]

[LOVE] ISN’T ALWAYS “ME FIRST.”

[Although Luke 6:38 is most often recited during church offering appeals, it has a definite bearing on our relationships. Jesus said “GIVE, and it will be GIVEN TO YOU: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into YOUR BOSOM.  For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”  Galatians 6:7 states the same principle in another way: “Whatever a man SOWS, that he will also REAP.”  It is a general truism that, in our relationships, we receive again whatever we have sown!]

[LOVE] DOESN’T FLY OFF THE HANDLE.

[Disagreements occur, but there is a God-given way to handle them.  Ephesians 4:26-27 says “Be ANGRY, and DO NOT SIN.  Do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil.”  Also Ephesians 4:29 says, “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.”  Now hear this.  Our spoken words have enduring impact, as well as our attitudes.  So we must be ever so careful and prayerful in how we deploy them.]

[LOVE] DOESN’T KEEP SCORE OF THE SINS OF OTHERS. 

[Our relationships should not be navigated via ‘memory calculators.’  In Matthew 18:21-22, “Peter came to Jesus and said, ‘Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I FORGIVE HIM?  Up to seven times? Jesus said to him, I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.”  Just like the now famous lyric-line from the movie “Frozen,” we must learn to “Let it go!”] 

[LOVE] DOESN’T REVEL [take pleasure] WHEN OTHERS GROVEL, [feel humbled or humiliated].

[Love genuinely celebrates the success of others, and mourns their reversals and losses.]

[LOVE] TAKES PLEASURE IN THE FLOWERING OF TRUTH.

[Honesty and integrity are mission critical to relational success.  The Word declares, in Psalm 15:2, that a blessed man is one who “walks uprightly, works righteousness and SPEAKS THE TRUTH in his heart.”]

[LOVE] PUTS UP WITH ANYTHING. 

[Wow…this is truly a tough one!  It implies unconditional love that declares, emphatically and consistently, that there are no alternatives.  In other words, quitting is not an option.  Relationships require hard work, sacrifice and courage.  I Peter 4:12-13 says, “Beloved, DO NOT THINK IT STRANGE concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you.”  James said we must “Count it all JOY…” (James 1:2)  And JESUS advised us to “REJOICE, and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven.” (Matthew 5:12)  Each of these scriptures has definite application and bearing on our relationships.]

[LOVE] TRUSTS GOD ALWAYS.

[Christ is the focal point and partner in healthy relationships.  Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”]

[LOVE] ALWAYS LOOKS FOR THE BEST. 

[Just as God looks for the best in us, we must look for and expect the best in others.  In Jeremiah 29:11, GOD says, “I know the thoughts that I think toward you…thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a FUTURE and a HOPE.”  LOVE requires FAITH.  And “faith works by love.” (Galatians 5:6)  Are you expecting bigger-and-better with your significant other, or did you drink the ‘Kool-Aid’ of doubt and despair?]

[LOVE] NEVER LOOKS BACK, BUT KEEPS GOING TO THE END.   

[Once a relationship issue has been settled, we must LET THE PAST BE THE PAST.  This requires kindness, compassion and, most importantly, forgiveness.  Ephesians 4:32 says, “And be KIND to one another, TENDERHEARTED, FORGIVING ONE ANOTHER, even as GOD IN CHRIST FORGAVE YOU.”  In The Lord’s Prayer, Jesus teaches to pray, “Forgive us our debts, AS we forgive our debtors.” (Matthew 6:12)  Also Jesus said, “If you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” (Matthew 6:15)  As we focus prayerfully and positively on our present and our future, we will find resolution, restoration, hope, peace and positive outcomes. Hang in there!  In the words of Jesus Christ, “He who endures to the end shall be saved.” (Matthew 24:13)]

The remainder of I Corinthians, chapter 13:

Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled.  When I was an infant at my mother’s breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good.  We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!  But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.

After all is said and done, LOVE IS A DECISION.  Love is NOT a feeling, emotion, thrill, or anything that has the potential to change or fade away.  LOVE IS A COMMITMENT…A DECISION.  Have you decided to love?

Sisters and brothers, be continually blessed and please (above all else) MAKE SURE YOU ARE READY TO MEET YOUR SOON COMING KING.  Maranatha!