What is Love?

Hmmm…more than lyrics to a catchy song. I’m honestly thinking…I don’t get it. I have been asking myself this question today, and as I have been thinking about it, I became extremely aware of how saturated my day is with that word, ‘love.’ If love is as special as we like to think it is, then why is constantly being used, for everything? I’m pretty sure it is being used incorrectly. Love is so much more than the feeling of appreciation or enjoyment that pizza or Justin Bieber can give you, I know that, but then, what is it?

I’m not going to go on a rant of how we need to take back the word ‘love’ and use it correctly again…I’m just as guilty as anyone else for looooving Needtobreathe or my mom’s chocolate chip cookie bars (let’s just face it, they’re the best). What I’m trying to get at is the heart of the matter (no pun intended), what does love even mean?

Is love the feeling that I get in my stomach when I’m wrapped in the arms of a Guatemalan child? Is it the ultimate feeling of happiness that comes from laughing so hard I cry with my best friends who live right down the hall? Or what about the feeling that can come when you’re with a special someone and they’re holding your hand? Surely these things have something to do with the feeling of love.

I think they do. But, I think there is so much more than this. There has to be. All of these things are beautiful and good, but why? And when I pull myself out of these moments, what makes them love vs. a moment of feeling selfishly good about myself? I think it’s a fine line to walk on.

Ultimately, love is not selfish. Or that’s the goal. With our sinful nature, I think it’s nearly impossible to love others without partly gaining something out of it. Which frustrates me, but I’m learning to deal with it.

 Some other things I know or I think I know about love, things that have been repeated to me over and over in my life: Love is patient, love is kind…and so on. God is love. Love is a verb. Love never fails. I love these things. (Shoot, I just did it myself…) I believe them. But I don’t want to stop there. I want these things to sink through my skin, explode inside my heart, and change everything about me, from the inside out.

Love is a feeling, there’s no denying that. But when the feeling is hard to feel, love is a choice. It is an action. It’s more than words or pathetic half-tries. Love doesn’t give up. Love is so important. The two biggest commands involve…loving God and loving others. Doesn’t that make you want to know love?

How do I give myself to others and my heavenly Father in love? What does that look like? The verse that keeps ringing in my head, and maybe this is “cliché,” is 1 John 3:16:

“By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.”

THIS is how we KNOW love. I want to KNOW love! Reading that verse causes my head to start swimming with thoughts that are all going in a hundred different directions. Love is sacrificial, there’s no denying that. Love is Jesus Christ and what He has done for me. Maybe the only way I even have the ability to love is through this act of the ultimate kind of love.

I think understanding love is a lifelong process…a journey that I will eagerly continue on. I have been given a love I can’t comprehend. This weekend we are reminded of the love that should affect every aspect of our lives. The God of the universe forsaking everything, lowering Himself to the ultimate low, dying for the most unworthy cause, and why? … All for love.  The fact that that my creator wants so badly to be in relationship with me, the mess that I am, continuously blows my mind.

I want to reflect this kind of love. This may be impossible, I don’t know. But I don’t think that means we shouldn’t try. Love is relational. Love is not self-serving. Love loves even when you get nothing out of it. Love doesn’t have conditions. Love is probably the harder choice. But love is worth it.

 I mess love up all the time. But I want to offer it to those around me. I can’t keep this love that has been given to me to myself…it’s so insanely huge! Bear with me as I try to live this life of love.