What does it mean to say that you are loved? Loved by whom? Loved for what? In this day and age, our perception of love is often tainted by culture wars, the decline of the nuclear family, or the failure of relationships that once seemed so solid. Even the idea that God loves me is often thought of as taboo or a cliché, meaning little more than a post-sneezed "God bless you." Philosopher Gottfried Leibniz said that love is "to be delighted by the happiness of another," but psychologists shrink love down to the simple feelings you have towards someone else. The problem with that is feelings often fade. Loves that were once burning hot can often turn ice cold over time. Is there such a thing as eternal love, or even love that can last one's lifetime?
I've often thought about what makes love truly loving. I've been married for 16 years to a beautiful, amazingly talented woman and have four children that I absolutely adore. Though to be honest, there are days when we butt heads. There are days when we struggle with marital disputes or juvenile angst. But at the end of the day, I know I would do anything for them. Is this true love? Throughout my life, I've found significant strength and peace in the words of scripture. What does the Bible say about love, and why should we care?
Here are a few scriptures to consider:
1 John 4:7-21 says:
"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this, the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us, and his love is perfected in us. By this, we know that we abide in him and he in us because he has given us his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this, love is perfected with us so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is, so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother."
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 says:
“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”
John 15:4 says: "Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends."
Ephesians 5:25 says, "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her."
From reading these scriptures, one can see that love goes far beyond a mere feeling; love is more than a connection. Love is sacrificial. Love puts others ahead of oneself. We read from 1 John that God is Love. How does he define love? We read from John 15:4, which says greater love has no man than this: to lay down his life for another. These are the words of Jesus, who would be God's ultimate expression of God's love for us. So what does it mean to say you are loved? It means that someone put you so far above their own self-interest that they sacrificed, suffered, and died to make things better for you, in a lasting sense. It means that the God of the universe, who holds the stars in place and is continually creating an ever-extending galaxy, had you and me on his mind. So much that he took our place upon a cross. He took the punishment that we deserve.
That is love – sacrificial, eternal, kind; free from envy, arrogance, or false intention. We can be glad and know that God loves us.
So what should be our response to this fact?
Our first response should be to receive not only this love but the reward of this Love. If you haven't done so yet, invite Christ into your heart, repent, and make a change for the better. This can only be done because of the fact that we have the Holy Spirit. Ten days after Jesus ascended to heaven, the Earth received the Holy Spirit of God. It is that Holy Spirit that is with you now, even as you are reading this. By the Father's love, Christ's sacrifice, and the Holy Spirit's direction, you can be made right before God.
Our second response should naturally be to pass that love on to those around us. Matthew 10:8 says, "You received without paying; give without pay." Just as we have received the love of God through no doing of our own, we should be showing the love of Christ to the world around us, putting their needs ahead of our own. Husbands, we should be loving our wives in the same sacrificial manner as Christ loved the church. The Old Testament is littered with stories of God's people turning away from him, giving way to idolatry. The book of Hosea even correlates this with Israel being like a wife who prostitutes herself out to other men. Yet, Christ still loved her. Christ still died for her. Though we deserved so much worse, Christ took our place to give us strength and peace in this life, as well as an eternity with Him. This is love that doesn't rejoice in wrongdoing but rejoices in the truth. So we should give our lives to demonstrating the sacrificial love of God to others.
Through conversation, through listening more, through talking less, through showing compassion, and through being unapologetically committed to being the hands and feet of Jesus, we can truly extend God's love to a world in need of Him.
God is Love.
God demonstrated love for us.
So we should receive that love and pass it on.
YOU ARE LOVED!
