Word Study Series: Love
This year I’m going to do a word series where we will explore different words and what they mean to us.
The first word I’m going to delve into is love. The dictionary describes love as an intense feeling of deep affection. In the Bible, love is described as the very nature of God. The Bible also encompasses what this love compelled Him to do for us.
What does love look like, and what is your picture of love? Love can be defined in many ways depending on who you ask, and what era of life that person is in. If we were asked as a child to describe what kind of upbringing we had, it may not be a pretty picture. Some children of celebrity parents paint a negative picture of their parents growing up, but in their later lives regret having done so and greatly alter that picture.
I myself did not have a very good depiction of my upbringing when I was younger. But now as an adult, I see my upbringing through a more mature lens. My picture of love is now characterized quite differently. Take for example how my mother reared me. If you asked me in my adolescence what I thought about my upbringing, I would have said that my mom hated me and was one of the meanest persons. I felt she was very hard on me and favored my siblings. Today if you were to ask me, I would say that she made a lot of sacrifices to raise my siblings and myself. I would recall with deep admiration that she worked hard to make sure our family did not lack the necessities of life. Once a year during the Christmas holiday, my mother would take us out to eat and to the movies. She couldn’t afford to do this regularly, so this was a special treat. Now, it’s something I look back on fondly, rather than resentfully.
I did not grow up in a family that expressed their love and appreciation for one another. In fact, if you had asked me some years ago if I felt loved by my family, I probably would have told you that I was not sure. My understanding of love today is much different. I thought that you just had to hear the words to know that someone loved you. I did not match actions to love. While I still love to hear that I am loved, I feel that deeds go a long way to prove the love being declared.
This is what the Lord did for us. He did not only say that He loved us – “…I have loved thee with an everlasting love…” (Jeremiah 31:3) – but He proved it through His great deed in sacrificing His beloved Son for us – “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son…” (John 3:16). Love is very important to the Lord. He asks of us to love Him and to love one another. To not only express love but allow it to become part of our very nature as it is part of His.
The Lord expresses that people will know that we are connected to Him when they see our love demonstrated amongst each other. John 13:35 states, “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” We tend to make love complex and difficult, although the Lord reveals it to us by giving us the greatest example of love. I always tell people that anytime you love, you open yourself up to be hurt. You take a chance and open your heart to a person, they hurt you, and then it makes you want to close your heart. Again, look at the pain the Lord endured even though He was hurt. And He yet loves us.
Another scripture that embodies how much emphasis the Lord puts on love is, “We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death” (1 John 3:14). I note that this scripture does not say prophecies, healings, or miracles reveal how religious we may be, but rather that what will take us from death unto life eternal is the love we show one another. Once more demonstrating God’s view on love.
Love. Many songs, poems, and stories have been written about it, but the greatest demonstration of love is the one the Lord challenges us to embrace; the unconditional love He shared with us and wants us to share with others.