What is Love

What is Love – Seasoned Feelings Ask any teenager or senior citizen, “What is love?” and their answers reflect a similar influence. Love involves feelings -- romanticized by music, literature, and media. We all yearn to recreate that intimacy based on what seems so ideal. Our deepest longings shape what defines love -- fervor (passionate), flawless (perfect), and fulfillment (joy).

When we express love, we develop a strong emotional attachment, anticipating our love to be returned. What do I receive out of the relationship? What’s my level of contentment? Our feelings focus upon discovering that one individual who satisfies all our heart’s desires. Sadly, what nourished and warmed our love for one season often withers and grows cold. “The course of true love never did run smooth.”1

What is Love – The Cost of Giving What is love if not costly? Real love demands sacrifice that can’t be found in self-centeredness. You can give without loving, but you can never love without giving. Sacrificial love requires that we give what we value most: our hearts, minds, souls, and strength. Real love does not always follow our natural inclinations; it is not an impulse from feelings. Love can only be understood from the actions it prompts. When we bear with the failings and weaknesses of others, divine love reveals itself (Ephesians 4:2). At all costs, this love compels us to give so that we alleviate the suffering of others. Instead of seeking to fulfill our emotional and physical needs (receiving), we humbly give of ourselves (1 Peter 3:8–9).

What is Love – God’s Nature In a response to, “What is Love?” it is erroneous to say “love is God.” God created love, not the reverse. He deliberately chose to express His love to us -- revealing the very nature of God Himself.

God Is Sacrificial – God initiated an eternal love relationship with us before we loved Him (1 John 4:10).

God Is Merciful – God extended the wealth of His kindness even when we were undeserving of His love (Ephesians 2:4-5).

God Is Faithful – Even in the most extreme circumstances, God’s love for us remains secure (Romans 8:35, 38-39). God did not need to create the universe. He made that choice as an expression of His ultimate love for us. Then God created us a certain way -- to experience all that perfect love was meant to be (Song of Songs 4:9-10; 8:6; 1 John 4:7-12). “ . . . May your roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love really is” (Ephesians 3:17-18).

God is Love: How do we Define Love?"God is Love", but how do we define it? The American Heritage Dictionary defines love as "an intense affection for another person based on familial or personal ties". Often this "intense affection" stems from a sexual attraction for that other person. We love other people, or we say we love other people, when we are attracted to them and when they make us feel good. Notice that a key phrase in the dictionary definition of love is the phrase "based on". This phrase implies that we love conditionally; in other words, we love someone because they fulfill a condition that we require before we can love them. How many times have you heard or said, "I love you because you are cute;" or "I love you because you take good care of me;" or "I love you because you are fun to be with"?

Our love is not only conditional, it is also mercurial. We love based on feelings and emotions that can change from one moment to the next. The divorce rate is extremely high in today's society because husbands and wives supposedly stop loving one another-or they "fall out of love". They may go through a rough patch in their marriage, and they no longer "feel" love for their spouse, so they call it quits. Evidently, their marriage vow of "till death do us part" means they can part at the death of their love for their spouse rather than at their physical death. Can anyone really comprehend "unconditional" love? It seems the love that parents have for their children is as close to unconditional love as we can get without the help of God's love in our lives. We continue to love our children through good times and bad, and we don't stop loving them if they don't meet the expectations we may have for them. We make a choice to love our children even when we consider them unlovable; our love doesn't stop when we don't "feel" love for them. This is similar to God's love for us, but as we shall see, God's love transcends the human definition of love to a point that is hard for us to comprehend.

God is Love: How does God Define Love? The Bible tells us that "God is Love" (1 John 4:8). But how can we even begin to understand that truth? There are many passages in the Bible that give us God's definition of love. The most well known verse is John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." So one way God defines love is in the act of giving. However, what God gave (or should we say, "who" God gave) was not a mere gift-wrapped present; God sacrificed His only Son so that we, who put our faith in His Son, will not spend eternity separated from Him. This is an amazing love, because we are the ones who choose to be separated from God through our own sin, yet it's God who mends the separation through His intense personal sacrifice, and all we have to do is accept His gift. Another great verse about God's love is found in Romans 5:8, "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." In this verse and in John 3:16, we find no conditions placed on God's love for us. God doesn't say, "as soon as you clean up your act, I'll love you; " nor does He say, "I'll sacrifice my Son if you promise to love Me." In fact, in Romans 5:8, we find just the opposite. God wants us to know that His love is unconditional, so He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for us while we were still unlovable sinners. We didn't have to get clean, and we didn't have to make any promises to God before we could experience His love. His love for us has always existed, and because of that, He did all the giving and sacrificing long before we were even aware that we needed His love.

God is Love: It's Unconditional God is Love, and His love is very different from human love. God's love is unconditional, and it's not based on feelings or emotions. He doesn't love us because we're lovable or because we make Him feel good; He loves us because He is love. He created us to have a loving relationship with Him, and He sacrificed His own Son (who also willingly died for us) to restore that relationship.