What is Love Anyway?

I was excited to talk with Roger about  a small soccer academy for teenage boys from the township of Jim se Bos which was just started.  The academy includes classes, soccer instruction and discussions about Biblical themes. With Valentines’ Day approaching the boys were asked to define love. Their reply was uncontrollable giggling.  These teens associated love as romance with the opposite sex, which isn’t surprising as most of them grew up in environments where “true love” wasn’t modeled.

Lately I’ve been around high school students on campus and apart of a few chapels. It is evident that so many are looking for love and acceptance. After one chapel a young man, several inches taller,  asked if he could give me a hug. I appreciated his bravery and in reality probably several others needed a hug as well.

So what is love anyway? Why do we need it?  As Valentine’s Day just passed we recall the flood of advertisements alerting us that love is flowers, chocolates, or a nice dinner.  But what does love look like when the roses dry up and the chocolate and delicious food is consumed? If love was just about giving these gifts each day we would all be broke and overweight!

We all desire love because that’s how we were created.  Though a romantic relationship, authentic friendship, and an amazing family may be good things, yet each are incapable of filling the chasm deep within our hearts. Ultimately love flows from the Triune God who created us in His very image. An image shaped to receive and give love away- exemplified by the love between God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Sadly the hole in our hearts resulted since we chose to walk away from the fount of love and instead drink from the dirty, self-dug springs which dehydrate. Thankfully the Father never stopped loving us and had a plan that in His perfect time He would give His one and only Son to show us what love really is and that love welcomes us to float in the River of His love.

Over the years I’ve officiated many weddings and often a message on the Love Chapter, 1 Corinthians 13 is requested. Indeed a great passage that describes love. But the words in and of themselves are powerless, in order to live love out in your marriage you need to know the person. That being the case I retranslate the text this way:

“Jesus is patient, Jesus is kind, Jesus does not envy, He does not boast, He is not proud, He is never rude. He is not self seeking. He is not easily angered, He keeps no record of wrongs. Jesus does not delight in evil, but rejoices in the truth. He always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Jesus never fails…” (vs. 4-8)

Love = Jesus and Jesus = Love. The Father knew that the only way we would really understand love and receive it was through Jesus walking on this earth and continuing to walk all the way to the cross. When we spend more of our time focussing on Jesus, contemplating and receiving His gift of love-something begins to change within us. The chasm starts filling up and a passion to return His love surfaces!

And somehow as we receive that love, His Spirit removes the misconceptions of love, pushes us out of our comfort zone, and miraculously start loving like Jesus, even though a few holes may remain. As we seek more patience and kindness, to be less envious and selfish, and to be more giving, forgiving, and hopeful, we develop a desire to point others to the love of Jesus. A forever love that will never let us go.

If you are thirsty for love today spend some time with Jesus. Ask the Holy Spirit to open your spiritual eyes and ears to encounter the one who defines love. Soak in His perfect love for you and share it with another and see what will happen to your heart.