What makes love so grand? Why is it so mysterious and at times seemingly elusive? Why do we crave it so deeply, yet find it so hard to find … or to give? Perhaps it’s true when they say, “love makes the world go around.” Love is the characteristic that elicits heartfelt change. It softens the hardest of hearts and ushers in hope when all seems lost. It brings life, hope and joy like nothing else can.
So what is true love?
In high school math class, one of the keys for understanding the dreaded algebra word problem was to understand what certain words meant to find the equation to solve. One of the tricks I recall my teacher giving us was that whenever we saw the word “is” in a word problem, it would signify the need for the equal sign. In a math problem whatever was on the left side of the equal sign would need to have the same value as whatever was on the right side. You could flip the values on the left with the values on the right, and it would still be equal because both sides would contain the same value.
When thinking about what true love is, we read in Scripture that God is love. Using math logic, we can see the words God and love to be equal or interchangeable. “God is love” is the same as “love is God.” Love is who God is. You can’t have love without God. It’s His very nature.
The world around us will try and emulate love, but without Him as the guiding force, it’s nothing more than a cheap copycat – that is empty at best. Jesus demonstrated His love for us by giving His very life and taking on the penalty of our sins, so that relationship with the Father would be restored. Love in its very essence is sacrificial; it cares more for others than ourselves.
The greatest descriptor of love in Scripture is found in 1 Corinthians 13, also known as the Love Chapter. Reading it in its simplicity is inspiring and beautiful.
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 with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails.
Since God is love, conversely love is God. Let’s put God’s name in place of the word love.
God is patient, God is kind.
God does not envy, God does not boast, God is not proud.
God does not dishonor others, God is not self-seeking,
God is not easily angered, God keeps no record of wrongs.
God does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
God always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
God never fails.
Jesus exhorts us to love like He does. Therefore what would it look like to put our name in place of love? How different our world would look if we loved the way Christ loves us.
Perhaps, we can make the world around us a bit more lovely by following the path of love.
May we continue to live…
Rooted in Him,
