What is Love?

I Cor. 13 starts with Paul describing all of the great acts of service he can do for God and others and ends the verse by saying, "If I don't have Love, I am nothing." I think my whole life I've tried to analyze and discover what "love" is and what love is not. I Cor. 13 is the Biblical definition of love--and a really good one at that. "Love is patient, kind, does not envy, is not prideful, does not behave unseemly, or seek her own, is not easily provoked, thinks no evil, rejoices not in iniquity, but rejoices in truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things, never fails." Obviously, the Biblical definition should be the standard of Love. But then you start analyzing your relationships with other people--and they fall short, and you question "did they love me?" And then, you realize your own love falls pathetically short--was I entirely unselfish in my relationships with other people?--no. Was I never prideful?--no. So, perfect love has only been displayed by God sending His son, Jesus Christ, to die for us. In our earthly relationships, we should shoot for the perfect love knowing that with the help of God at times we will succeed and at times fall short.

The sermon Sunday was on the Pursuit of Happiness--the preacher said that you can't be happy if you don't love other people. He wasn't talking about romantic relationships, but that God put us here on earth to love one another. "Love God, then Love Man." We won't be happy if we aren't living out the purpose God had for us--we'll be wasted.

"That's what deep lovers do--they pray for the ones they love." Pray Phil. 1:6 over the fallen: "Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ." A reminder to us and to God that He never gives up on His children--never lets them go.

Pray Phil 1:9-11 "I pray that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; That ye may approve things that are excellent, that ye may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ; Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God." Pray for God's love to be showered down on them so that they understand Him more and are confident in His love. This new perspective grants them greater discernment in how to live their lives. This is love. "Shallow sentimentality quits while Love does not give up. To grow in love, you must challenge each other spiritually."

How to Love One Another

Feeling restless lately like I've disappointed my Father. Wavering focus, frustrated with some things in my life, distracting myself with non-important things, neglecting others...and yet He still loves me. It's beautiful. I'm sure He was disappointed--as am I, but that didn't change His love. His love is PERFECT now! Can't love me more, can't love me less--no matter what happens.

John Piper explains it in "Don't Waste Your Life" when he writes, "Love is doing what is best for someone. But making self the object of our highest affections is not best for us. It is, in fact, a lethal distraction. We were made to see and savor God--and savoring him, to be supremely satisfied, and thus spread in all the world the worth of His presence. Not to show people the all-satisfying God is not to love them. To make them feel good about themselves when they were made to feel good about seeing God is like taking someone to the Alps and locking them in a room full of mirrors."

"What makes the good deed an act of love is not the raw act, but the passion and the sacrifice to make God Himself known as glorious. Not to aim to show God is not to love, because God is what we need most deeply. And to have all else without Him is to perish in the end. If you don't point people to God for everlasting joy, you don't love. You waste your life."