What is love? There seems to be an endless amount of defenitions out there for the word love. Some describe it as an action while others describe it as a feeling. We are told to show love, be loving, love ourselves, love this and love that, honestly this word can become overwhelming. Too often we overcomplicate the word “love”. We hear all of these different sermons about being loving but I feel like we don’t always take the time to truly break down the defection of love. Oftentimes we look for love as a feeling, which yes we can feel enormous amounts of love for ourselves and others, but believe it or not when looking at the Bible the definition of love is actually a verb.
The definition is simple: A decision to do what is best for one another according to God’s word.
When we stop and think about love in this simple definition it can help us immensely. Love is a choice. Think about being in a relationship, when two people first meet there is an attraction, then once they start to get to know each other they choose to love one another. You don’t just “fall in love” and that’s it. You CHOOSE to love someone despite their imperfections and the disagreements. I think we turn the idea of “love” into a mystic thing that only lucky people find and if we're being honest we idolize it. We put the idea of being “in love” on a pedestal and chase after it. By doing this we often neglect the love that is right in front of us and freely given to us, which is God’s love. (John 3:16, John 14:6, Romans 10:9)
God is love. The love he has for us is unimaginable and so good that we can’t fully grasp how amazing it is. His love does powerful things. This summer along with Ole Miss Cru I have been reading Practicing The Way by John Maker Comer. This book is so powerful. It talks about how God is love and his love has the ability to completely change our hearts and turn us into people of love. This is obviously a very quick summary of the book but I couldn't agree more with what it says. Our job is to love God and others just as he loves us. Obviously we are not perfect and will make mistakes at times, but there is something so special about “practicing the way” of the Lord. When you choose to show love according to the Bible’s definition of it you will see a change not only in others, but yourself as well.
God gives his love out freely, so why aren’t we doing the same? Why do we limit the amount of love we give to others? Oftentimes our own pride and selfish ambition can get the best of us. I know that I am definitely guilty of this and showing God’s love is usually the complete opposite of what the world tells us. When someone says something about you the world says to clapback with an even meaner comment, God says turn the other cheek and love your enemies as yourself (Matthew 5:39, Matthew 5:43-44). When someone does something to hurt you the world says seek revenge, God says I am a God of justice and to never seek revenge (Romans 12:19-21). Are we seeing the contradictions here? With all this to say, love is something we practice every day despite what the world says, showing God’s love to yourself and others can do more than we can imagine. One of my favorite Bible verses is John 13:34-35 “A new command I give to 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 another.” There is so much to unpack in this verse and it's so powerful. We as Christians are set apart, we can show and live out our faith simply by loving others, we are to love another just like God loves us. This is something that we choose to do every single day.
Instead of just focusing on finding “true love” why not stop and look at the love that is already surrounding you? God’s love and goodness follow us all the days of our lives (Psalm 23:6) that right there is so powerful and life changing. Look at all of the sweet people God has put in your life who have CHOSEN to love you. If you have a dog literally look at how much that sweet little thing loves and adores you!!!! There is love all around us, we don’t have to be in a relationship to experience it. We can wake up every single day and choose to love God and those right in front of us. We have so much love to give out so don’t hoard it, give it out freely just as God does.
Something to remember is that it is also so important to love yourself. I do not mean this in a prideful way at all please do not take it that way. What I’m saying is that God formed you with such love and care, this is something we can be so grateful for. We can be so confident in who God made us and all that he has planned for us. He has planned every step of your life and created you with such specific talents and gifts. (Jeremiah 1:5, Jeremiah 29:11, Romans 12:6) We are his temple, this means we must love and care for ourselves. Try and see yourself how God sees you, loved, a child of God, created with a purpose, called by name, and sooooo much more! When we start to view ourselves in this way we are able to love others better.
We all have different ways of showing love, AKA our love languages lol. Gifts is definitely my love language, buy me a present and I will love you FOREVER!!! I also love to give gifts, when it’s your birthday I will make it my mission to give you the best gift you have ever received. It’s important to remember that since we all have different ways of giving and receiving love you may have to think outside the box and get out of your comfort zone a little bit. For example, you may be someone who is not very good at words, and you have a friend who is the complete opposite. If they’re having a bad day they may just need someone to come and tell them how loved they are and that they’re doing a good job. For someone who isn’t good with words this may be super uncomfortable to do. Another example is someone who needs physical touch may just need a hug when they’re having a bad day. Here is a personal example, my dad’s love language is definitely quality time. He loves to work in his shop on little projects, where as for me building is probably the last thing I would want to do. But by setting time aside to spend with my dad doing something that he loves that is practicing God’s definition of love. We have to pay attention to little things like this in order to love others well.
Showing grace is another powerful way to love others. When we are upset at someone and choose to simply give them grace instead of being mean, there is so much power in doing that and not only helps them but ourselves as well. Also give yourself a little grace going back to loving yourself. I am definitely my biggest critic and I can be so hard on myself at times, but stopping and giving myself grace and knowing that I can’t do it on my own and I need God has been so humbling and healing in my heart. God’s grace and love is made perfect in our weakness. (2 Corinthians 12:9). By stopping and choosing to show love and grace instead of hate, it changes something in our hearts and others as well, it helps us to see others and ourselves as how God sees us.
Love is one of the greatest gifts we can receive and give. Don’t wait around for it to suddenly find you, rest in the knowledge that you are already so loved by God and the people in your life. Remember love is simple, it is the decision to do what is best for each other according to God’s word. Choose to show love to everyone you meet and love each other well. Do as Jesus did and give love out freely.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 “Love is patient, love is kind, it does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices in truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres.”