What is Love?

Love is something that we as people all truly desire. Christian or not, we all have this deep longing to be known, seen, felt, and heard. 

What does love truly look like? It looks like God Himself. You may be wondering, “But you cannot see God!”

Well, that may be true, but scripture shows love differently.

1 John 4:10-12 - 'This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God, but if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is made complete in us.

Paul, an apostle of Christ, speaks to the importance of the gift of love. So much so, that he proclaimed under the authority of Christ that it is to be the thing we truly desire the most, more than spiritual gifts.

1 Corinthians 12:31 - 'But earnestly desire and strive for the greater gifts [if acquiring them is going to be your goal]. And yet I will show you a still more excellent way [one of the choicest graces and the highest of them all: unselfish love].'

As Christians, the goal, the greatest desire in our lives should be Love Himself. It shows in our life in different ways, but the essence is found in God Himself.

Let us explore a more excellent way, the way of agape, unconditional love. 

Patience, Kindness, Contentment, & Humility

1 Corinthians 13:4 - 'Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. '

Patience is said to be not the fact that you are able to wait, but having the correct attitude while you wait. Love shows in patience by being able to endure with an attitude of not holding resentment or irritability in the midst of the wait. 

Patience is tested in the face of mistreatment or hurt from others. To truly wait for those to either apologize, repent, and hopefully change, even when those results are not immediate. 

Kindness is too often confused with being “nice” or “polite.” However, true biblical kindness is shown in an active pursuit of seeking to do what is good for others, even when it does not benefit ourselves.

Contentment, the opposite of envy, shows in how we can truly be satisfied with what the Lord has provided for us. To be able to genuinely celebrate others, with a sincere and full heart of joy.

After all, we truly do not own anything that God has blessed us with. A win for others should be a win for us as well. Rejoicing with those who rejoice.

Humility is too often seen as a weakness in the world. They preach to “stand on business”, “talk your talk”, “put yourself first”. This is not the way of the Kingdom.

We are called to lift others, count them as more important than ourselves.

Arrogance seems so tempting when trying to make a name for yourself and stand out in the world; ironically, we are called to be set apart differently. We are not called to have a deep self-confidence and have everyone else believe in our supposed “greatness”.

No. We are called to reflect the image of the Son of Man who laid down His entire being in deep humility, yet is now risen in complete glory, now and forever. This is love. 

Ephesians 4:2 - 'Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. '

Love delights in lifting others up gently, bearing faults in patience. 

Honoring, Serving, Calm, & Forgiving

1 Corinthians 13:5 - 'It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.'

Honor is to look to show genuine respect, value, and dignity, regardless of contributions or position. Honor is properly shown with those who recognize that every person was created in the image of God. 

Having the heart of a servant is the true definition of greatness in the eyes of Christ. Serving yields to others, it seeks to meet others' needs before considering their own needs, knowing that the Father will provide for their needs. The church can learn to trust Him by seeking His kingdom first, serving His fellow servants, and He provides the rest.

Love shows deeply in how well we treat others when they are “getting in our way” or are a “hindrance” in our daily lives. Having a deep calmness and gentle spirit shows a love that sees the person as one worthy of enduring for.

Forgiveness is at the very core, the heart of the Father. Forgiveness, while it can be very difficult in practice, can be done with an understanding that we are completely forgiven in and through Christ. When we recognize this, we can let go of offenses and truly allow that person to be free in our hearts and minds and move forward with grace and strength to be who He called us to be!

Ephesians 4:31-32- 'Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.'

Love delights in a compassionate kindness, willing to forgive, like Christ did.

Rejoicing in Truth

1 Corinthians 13:6 - 'Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. '

We as Christians should have a love and inclination towards justice, righteousness, and holiness. Truth, no matter how painful at the time, is what is best for any situation for the believer. 

Jesus Christ Himself describes Himself as being ‘the Truth”. One way we express real love is to agree with what God says is good and not to succumb and conform to the patterns of this world that are ever changing, and hope others come to understand and accept that as well.

Ephesians 4:15 - 'Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. '

Love is being honest.

Protecting, Trusting, Hoping, Persevering 

1 Corinthians 13:7 - 'It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. '

Love bears all things. It does not give up on someone just because they are difficult or annoying to deal with. Love does not have a limit to what other people are willing to handle, especially those in the world, and what they see as reasonable.

Love truly is shown through long-suffering.

Side note: this is not an allowance or encouragement to take abuse or harmful behaviors from others in the name of “love”, there can be that safe distance of loving someone while not allowing access to their heart or inner circle. 

Love believes all things. On the surface, this may seem to encourage gullibility and being naive to if and when others could be using us or deceiving us. However, this is not the case.

You can be fully aware of the possibility that people may take your genuine love as an advantage for themselves, but love is shown when we remove the burden in our hearts to potentially catch those who could be deceptive and manipulative, and ironically, it is those who are being loved that have the burden or responsibility to be truthful before God and others and respond accordingly with a pure heart.

Love hopes all things. Love shows when we truly want what is best for others, for good to win, the truth to be exalted. 

Hope in scripture is not meant to be understood as “wishful thinking”. Rather, a confident expectation of what is to come based on the promises of Christ, through God’s faithfulness.

Love endures all things. True love is shown in how long it can be given and pursued in when life gets hard. Truth be told, just because we do, say, and believe the right things, does not mean life gets any easier. 

Jesus was perfect in His earthly ministry, yet He endured much hardship, pain, betrayal, and loneliness. However, the joy set before Him and the deep love He has for His people outweighed the temporary pain that He had to endure for the salvation of those who place their trust in Him.

1 Peter 4:8 - 'Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. '

True love covers over the wrongs done from us and against us. 

Reliability

1 Corinthians 13:8 - '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. '

Agape. The type of love that is unconditional, a love that never turns its face away from us when we mess up, accepts us for who we are, but is powerful enough to leave us as we are.

This love never fails because it is eternal. When we as a church decide to love in this way, regardless of how we feel, the impact will last for generations. Whether we see it now or not, any work of love and sacrifice done in the name of the Lord will never return in vain. 

Giving and receiving new words from the Lord, speaking in heavenly languages, and learning new things about God will all eventually cease because there will be a day when we will fully be in the presence of God with His people in a redeemed and new heaven and earth, fully known by God.

Love, however, will never, ever end. Why? Because love, in essence, is not a concept, it is a living being, expressed in three persons. The Father, The Son, & The Holy Spirit. God is love. He lasts forever, and once His love is in us, that will never be taken from us. 

Romans 8:37-39 - 'No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.'

Love lasts forever.

This is Love

Love is not a feeling. Saying love is an action is technically correct, yet misses the bigger picture. Love is a person, that person is God Himself, expressed through the virtues mentioned in 1 Corinthians. 

The goal of our faith is to truly dwell in love, know God’s love for ourselves, and pour out that love onto others.

1 John 4:16-18 - 'And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world, we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear is about punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. '

Woe to those who do not understand the vastness of His love and fail to know Love Himself truly. Let us truly be a people known more for what we love, than what we hate. 

'We love because he first loved us. Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.' - 1 John 4:19-21

Let us reflect and ask ourselves, do we know God? Heed Jesus’ command and press forward in love.

John 13:34-35 - “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”