What is love? According to God, not Jack, Jill, or me, but God.
God says love is in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (NIV) is:
“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.”
Growing up I’d say I never knew what true love was until I got older. I thought, like many of us, that it was like those romantic comedies on the big screens that showcased romance being perfect, sunsets and rainbows, everyone happy always and everything working out no matter what with no fighting. Or friendships that are perfect all the time, no problems that arise that jeopardize your friendship, everything goes your way, and you guys live in perfect harmony forever.
Well, I, like many of you, have been hit with a great big deal of surprise or shellshock that this was not true, but rather, a fantasy. The reality is, that we can all have those sunny days and blissful periods when everything seems right and going well in our different relationships, but we have to know those good days come with some bad too. That’s just life at the end of the day.
Relationships, platonic or romantic, will always entail bumps and bruises, arguments, dealing with each other’s attitudes, and much more all due to our own flesh and the free will we all have. We won’t always do the kindest things, or say the nicest words. We break promises and at times, do what’s best in our own self-interest more than the other party’s. Arguments, problems, and negative situations can cause the relationship to go through strife, and can even put said relationship on thin ice if we allow it to reach that point. All of this can have you questioning if this relationship is worth keeping at the end of the day.
So my response to this and to us all is this is what God goes through dealing with us on a daily basis.
God’s love is so great, and deep, and showcases so much grace and mercy that it’s hard to fathom at times in my own thinking. I’m like why me God? Why us?
The only thing I can say to that is, “God loves us”. We’re reminded just how much God loves us in (John 3:16 NIV):
“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.”
That’s something that even on my best day, I would struggle mulling over the decision to do so for someone other than my closest family. But Jesus did this for all of us because that’s how much He loved us and how great His love for us is.
Real love shouldn’t be offered only when things are going well, or when everything seems perfect. That’s easy.
Real love should be remain even when times are hard and when it becomes hard to love someone because they have transgressed against you; when everything in you is saying do what they did or worse back to them, but you don’t.
And you do the exact opposite, which is just loving on them no matter what. Now that is real love. That is sacrificial love. This is the way God calls us to love. This is something, admittedly, that is very hard for us to do because we are operating with our carnal minds. This is why God reminds us to always and continually be operating in him and with the renewing of our minds daily (Romans 12:2 NLT)
I won’t sit here and preach as though I’m living proof of this 24/7. I, too, struggle with loving others even when I’m hurt by them or their actions, words, etc. Even I hurt others with my words or actions at times. But my mom is somebody I look up to and admire because of something she kept reminding me since I was a kid. She emphasized how if someone wronged you or did you dirty, it’s not your job to do the same or worse back to them. She constantly said, just love them. I thought she and this type of thinking were weak in my adolescence, but as I got older and more mature I’ve grown to understand that this is one of the strongest things a person can do in this life – love no matter what. I hope we’re able to live by this sentiment daily in our own individual lives and grow to recognize the strength in loving anyway, just as God does.
