THE DEFINITION OF LOVE

PROCLAMATION

“…  But do not have love, I am nothing … Love is patient, love is kind … it does not envy … boast … dishonor others … it is not self-seeking … it keeps no record of wrongs … It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”  1 Corinthians 13:1-7 (NIV)

 

EXPLANATION

These words were written by the apostle Paul, under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God, to the believers in the church at Corinth.  In this chapter Paul wrote to them concerning love.  He began by saying that without love, even the most eloquent of words is just noise. (1 Corinthians 13:1)  He said that if he had the gifts of prophecy, knowledge, and faith, that without love he was nothing. (1 Corinthians 13:2)  Even if he gave all that he had to the poor, without love it does him no good. (1 Corinthians 13:3)  Then he goes on to describe love by saying what it is and what it is not.  Love never fails. (1 Corinthians 13:4-8)  He ends by saying that with respect to the three most important things in the life of a believer, faith, hope, and love, that the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:13)

 

APPLICATION

It is difficult to define “love” and the definition in the dictionary leaves a lot to be desired.  Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary defines love as a “strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties”.  It also gives eight other definitions, all of which relate to feelings.  In this chapter Paul provides us with displays of love and descriptions of what love is and what it isn’t, and what love does and doesn’t do.  Love is all-consuming and involves the whole person including the heart, (1 Corinthians 13:1) the mind, (1 Corinthians 13:2) and the will of the involved person. (1 Corinthians 13:3)  Love is the fruit of The Holy Spirit. (Galatians 5:22)  This love is the agape kind of love, not the brotherly love, “phileo”, or the passion lustful eros type of love.  It is the divine love, the love of God.  Without the love of God our gifts and talents are worthless.  The love of God is perfected within us as we keep and obey His Holy Word. (1 John 2:5)  There is no fear in love.  Perfect love of God casts out fear. (1 John 4:18)  God is love.  Whoever lives in love, lives in God, and God lives within them. (1 John 4:16)  As believers, we are commanded to love one another. (John 13:34-35)  Anyone who claims to love God and yet hates his brother is a liar. (1 John 4:20-21)

LOVE

Proclamation:

“…  But do not have love, I am nothing … Love is patient, love is kind … it does not envy … boast … dishonor others … it is not self-seeking … it keeps no record of wrongs … It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”  1 Corinthians 13:1-7 (NIV)

Explanation:

These words were written by the apostle Paul, under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God, to the believers in the church at Corinth.  In this chapter Paul wrote to them concerning love.  He began by saying that without love, the most eloquent of words is just noise. (1 Corinthians 13:1)  He said that even if he had the gifts of prophecy, knowledge, and faith, without love he was nothing. (1 Corinthians 13:2)  Even if he gave all that he had to the poor, without love it does him no good. (1 Corinthians 13:3)  Then he goes on to describe love by saying what it is and what it is not.  Love never fails. (1 Corinthians 13:4-8)  He ends by saying that with respect to the three most important things in the life of a believer, faith, hope, and love, that the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:13)

Applications:

It is difficult to define “love” and the definition in the dictionary leaves a lot to be desired.  Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary defines love as a “strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties”.  It also gives eight other definitions, all of which relate to feelings.  Here, Paul provides us with displays of love and descriptions of what love is and isn’t, and what love does and doesn’t do.  Love is all-consuming and involves the heart, (1 Corinthians 13:1) the mind, (1 Corinthians 13:2) and the will. (1 Corinthians 13:3)  Love is the fruit of The Holy Spirit. (Galatians 5:22)  This love is the agape kind of love, not the brotherly love, phileo, or the passion lustful eros type of love.  It is the divine love, the love of God.  Without the love of God our gifts and talents are worthless.  The love of God is perfected within us as we keep and obey His Holy Word. (1 John 2:5)  God is love, and whoever lives in love, lives in God, and God lives within them. (1 John 4:16)  As believers, we are commanded to love one another. (John 13:34-35)

Love Love Love

"How beautiful you are, my darling!  Oh, how beautiful!  Your eyes are doves.  How handsome you are, my lover!  Oh, how charming!  And our bed is verdant."  Song of Solomon 1:15-16 (NIV)

The words of King Solomon in The Bible book the Song of Solomon, are the words of a lover to his beloved lady, and the replies that she speaks to him.  It is a love song of a man to his wife and her replies of love to him.  These are believed to be the words of King Solomon to his first wife, the Shulamite maiden, before he married the 699 others and took the 300 concubines.

The "call and response" pattern of a man expressing his love to a woman, followed by the woman expressing her love for her man, is repeated throughout the eight chapters of this book.  This is the love that is expressed during the courtship, the engagement period, and during the honeymoon of marriage, before the storms of life take away the sweet innocence.  As we go through life we need to remember the love that we had at the beginning of our relationships, and keep that before us as we progress through the years of marriage from the blissful beginnings to the marital maturity.  Our love for our mate should be as Christ's love for the Church, strong, unfailing, patient, kind, and enduring.  (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)

Jesus Said You Are My Friends

"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.  You are My friends if you do what I command.^"  John 15:13-14 (NIV)

Near the end of His earthly ministry, Jesus, The Christ, told His disciples that they were His friends.  He also said that to lay down one's life for a friend is the ultimate demonstration of love for him. 

Many of us have people in our lives that we call friends.  A real friend is someone very special.  Webster's dictionary defines a friend as one who is attached to another by affection or esteem; a favored companion.  Every one that we go to school with, work with, belong to the same club with, or live near is not our friend.  Every one who likes us or follows us on a social network is not really our friend.  We have a large number of acquaintances and associates, colleagues and co-workers, in our lives who are not really our friends.  A friend is some one who will go out of their way to maintain a relationship with us when there are no outside forces keeping us together.  They may not contact us everyday, but when they do there is a genuine love present.  There are some friends that stick closer to us than a brother. (Proverbs 18:24)  We may have a friend who would be will to die for us.  But there is no friend like the friend we have in Jesus.  He is indeed truly our friend, and so much more than that.  He lived for us, He died for us, He rose for us, and now He intercedes for us.  We are His friends if we do what He says, so let us obey The Word of God.

Demonstrate God's Perfect Love

"Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God ... Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another ... but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us ... If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is The Son of God, God lives in him and he in God ... God is love ... There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear ... If anyone says, 'I love God,' yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And He has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother." 1 John 4:7-21 (NIV)

The Apostle John offers a description of what perfect love, Godly love is and tells how we can achieve it and demonstrate it. It is The Spirit of God within us that imparts to us the will to love each other.

God loves us and He has proven it. If we love God, we will love our fellow man because God is love and God is within us. We cannot love God and hate one another. We should pray that God will help us to love everyone. We must learn to demonstrate the love of God in our daily interactions with our fellow man.

Love

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, 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." 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (NIV)

In his letter to the Christians in Corinth, the Apostle Paul describes what love is, and what love is not. His point was that doing the right thing, without love in your heart for whomever you are doing it for, is pointless. It is important to love one another.

Love for our fellow man is not to be confused with romantic love or with lust. It is more than just brotherly love, it is Godly love. Love benefits the recipient of love, not the giver. Love is a God-like virtue that we should demonstrate towards each other.

God Is Love

"Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love." 1 John 4:7-8

God is the essence of love. All of us who are born again receive God's nature. This is not a reference to mere human love or lust, but the highest and ultimate form of agape love which is spiritual not physical.

Let us show the world the God in us by demonstrating love for one another. Jesus said, "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." John 13:35

What Is Love?

"Love, love, love, love is all you need." (John Lennon) That is true because "... God is love." 1 John 4:8 KJV

"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 it rejoices with truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things." 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 ESV

"So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love." 1 Corinthians 13:13 ESV

Love believes the best in others and hopes for the best in others. If we have God in our lives and we are in Christ, then we will have love in our heart for our fellow man, even when we hate his sin.

Let's show our love for others be practicing random acts of kindness.