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We often hear people saying that they “love” things like ice cream, sunsets, poetry and their dog. But, if we look up the word “love” in our secular dictionary, we will find it defined differently as “a profoundly tender, passionate feeling for another person”.
The world tells us that love is a feeling. But, feelings are a part of us that we have very little control over. We can’t guarantee that we will feel a certain way about someone or something every day for the rest of our lives! Feelings can and do vary from day to day and are even something that can change overnight. In 1964, the Righteous Brothers sang “You've Lost That Loving Feeling”:
“You've lost that lovin' feelin',
Whoa, that lovin' feelin',
You've lost that lovin' feelin',
Now it's gone...gone...gone...wooooooh.”
The world’s dictionary thinks of love as a noun… a word that functions as the name of some specific thing. But in God’s kingdom love is not a thing, but a verb…. a word that means a deliberate choice to take action. This is the exact opposite of how our culture teaches us to think about love. In God’s economy, love is about commitment, not feelings and emotions. It is not something one is supposed to feel, it is something we are commanded to do…
John 13:34-35
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
Ephesians 5:25
“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.”
Matthew 22:36-40
“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
A feeling can’t be commanded… only an action can be commanded. Jesus didn’t say have good feelings about each other… He commanded us to love one another. Real love is not about how we feel about other people, even our enemies, but how we act towards them, no matter how we feel…
Luke 6:27-36
“But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29 If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. 30 Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you. 32 If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. 35 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”
Love is something we do even when we don’t feel like it. When it comes to love, humanity’s version doesn’t hold a candle to God’s love. The apostle Paul wrote a passage (1 Corinthians 13:4-7) that describes God’s true love for us… “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 rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”
It is hard for us to understand the depths of God’s love for us. Even while we were sinners, God showed His love for us…
John 3:16
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
This is God’s love and it is the kind of love that God wants us show to one another. Not necessarily by dying on a cross, but in dying to self in order to better love these around us!
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