The above question brings up many feelings and emotions in many people. This being the month of "love", I thought I might explore this question with my readers. The simplest definition I can give for love, is God. Very simply put, the Creator of all the universe-each and every human being as well as the stars, etc...He is the author of love because He is LOVE. His holy word says so-so I believe that to be true.
This brings me to the next obvious question-what, specifically, can we know/read about God (through His own word) that can give us a deeper description/example of love through knowing Him-the author/Creator of love? We can know that we all have the ability to love, it is God given. However, so is free will. We "choose" whether we want to love someone or whether we are willing to invest in the process of learning to love. Being created in the image of God-we can know that we are capable of loving others.
Is love always easy...absolutely not. As a matter of fact-God proves over and again that love can be very difficult and bring a lot of pain. Things that we do not care about do not cause us pain-only things that mean something to us can cause us pain. God demonstrated His love to us in sending His only Son to a cruel death on the cross on our behalf. This was an extremely painful moment to God. WHY? Because He loves us! Not only did He love His Son, but He loved us enough to sacrifice His Son on our behalf. No, love is not always easy-sometimes it even brings great sacrifice-in Christ's case-His death.
How do we know when we love someone? When we are willing to do the "hard" thing-the thing that is selfless and considers another's well being over our own. In I Corinthians 13 we are reminded that love requires a lot of things. Love "expects the best". So, if I truly love someone, I will expect the best of them. This means that I will go to them, individually, and talk with them when "something doesn't seem to add up" in our minds with what we believe/understand to be that person's character. Love does not mean being stupid and naive...it means being aware of a person's character when they, generally, are a particular way and we see something "different" in them that doesn't seem to add up to the fruits that they normally bear (you shall know them by their fruits). Love "does not keep account" of a wrong suffered. If I truly love someone, I will do my best to remember that we are ALL sinners and fall short of the glory of God. I will give that person, mercy and grace, remembering that I, too, may need the same in the future. Again, it doesn't mean we must be foolish in our decisions to "trust" others. If a person has proved himself untrustworthy-they need to know that there is a consequence for their action even if I "forgive" them and continue to love them. Love is kind...whoa, couldn't we use more of that in our world. Genuine caring for others that doesn't malign, slander, gossip...instead goes directly to a person, and that person alone, with a concern/question in a humble/kind manner instead of demanding/hateful/malicious manner-this is the instructions that Jesus gave His followers in Matthew 18. Love is not envious or jealous. Do you find it possible to be happy for others when they receive some gift, kindness, goodness and you do not? Or do you find yourself jealous that your life isn't as calm/peaceful and well balanced as someone else? These are all of the types of questions we need to ask ourselves from time to time. This is the way we discover if we are growing envious/jealous. Jealousy can eat you from the inside out. True love is grateful/thankful/joyful when others experience blessings in their lives. Even if we would like our own circumstances to be different, we can still learn to rejoice with those that rejoice and not grow envious/jealous. Love is patient-aren't we glad that's true! God demonstrates GREAT patience and longsuffering with us each and every day simply by not coming to destroy the entire world that is sin ridden. Instead, His desire is that no one will perish and He waits-patiently-though the world maligns/blasphemes His name. Love is not rude. Being rude comes in all forms/fashions and varies in different cultures/circumstances. Sometimes it is impossible to know what may be considered "rude" in particular situations, because in other places it is actually considered a compliment. A "small" example would be that in America, we consider it "rude" to belch at the table. In many other countries it is actually considered a sign of great hospitality/appreciation for a good meal. So, we need to be aware of/willing to learn about different places we may go/visit and confess to others when we didn't realize we were engaging in a particular oversight/rude behavior because this is not a "universal" understanding..it varies from location to location. This is where some of the other qualities of love come into play. If we feel that someone has been rude because of the norms in our particular location-we need to show love to them and go to them, kindly, and explain the concern/way things are done in a particular location. Real love would not go and talk about them behind their backs-instead it would go to them-kindly-to talk with them about it. Love also does not insist in having its own way. Just because we may feel entitled to something, does not make it so. Real love would respect the wishes of the person giving the entitlement to whomever they choose-not insist on having it their own way. Love doesn't rejoice in injustice/unrighteousness. No matter the circumstance-we must always remember to stand up for/do the right things while never finding "joy" in another's undeserved downfall (injustice). Love bears up under everything-it does whatever needs to be done and remains steady in the storm. Love endures everything and remains very strong-determined to not allow others/any circumstance to take away the joy.
Truly loving others is the most difficult thing we will ever do. This is why God is the definition of love. God is love. He is ALL of the above things in ALL circumstances-always has been/always will be. He is the perfect One, the One we should strive to imitate in our own lives each and every day. Sometimes we fail at loving the way that we should-this is why we are in need of a Savior. The Savior, Jesus Christ, to bridge the gap-the PERFECT one to bridge the gap between our weakness and God's strength. One that will bring us back into relationship with God-the God who loves us, the God who created us, the One and Only Jehovah God-that is the definition of love. Something to think about today.
