Webster's dictionary definition:
- strong affection or liking for someone or something
- a passionate affection for one of the opposite sex.
The Bible's definition:
1 Corinthians 13:4-8 reads, "Love is very patient and kind, never jealous or envious, never boastful or proud, never haughty or selfish or rude. Love does not demand its own way. It is not irritable or touchy. It does not hold grudges and will hardly even notice when others do it wrong. It is never glad about injustice, but rejoices whenever truth wins out. If you love someone you will be loyal to him no matter what the cost. You will always believe in him, always expect the best of him, and always stand your ground in defending him. All the special gifts and powers from God will someday come to an end, but love goes on forever."
Love is more important than all the spiritual gifts exercised in the church body. Great faith and miracle-working power produce very little without love. Love makes our actions and gifts useful. Although people have different gifts, love is available to everyone.
Our society confuses love with lust. Unlike lust, God's kind of love is directed outward toward others, not inward toward ourselves. It is utterly unselfish. His love is not natural. It is possible only if God supernaturally helps us set aside our own desires and instincts, so we can give love while expecting nothing in return. Therefore, the closer we come to Christ, the more love we will show to others.
Love is not simply warm feelings; it is instead an attitude that reveals itself in action. How can we love others as Christ loves us? By helping when it's not convenient, by giving when it hurts, by devoting energy to others' welfare rather than our own, by absorbing hurts from others without complaining or fighting back. This kind of love is hard to do. That is why people will notice when you do it and will know you are empowered by a supernatural source.
When you are running low on love and power, ask yourself, "How long have I been away from the source?" The source is Jesus!
(1) Read John 13:34,35
Jesus was a living example of God's love, as we are to be living examples of Jesus' love.
Real love involves selfless giving; therefore, a self-centered person can't truly love. God's love and forgiveness free us to take our eyes off ourselves and to meet others' needs. By sacrificing His life, Christ showed that He truly loved you. Now you can love others by following His example and giving of yourself sacrificially.
(2) Read 1 Peter 1:22
Does this mean if you dislike anyone you aren't a Christian? These verses are not talking about disliking a disagreeable Christian brother. There will always be people we will not like as well as others. John's words focus on the attitude that causes us to ignore or despise others, to treat them as irritants, competitors, or enemies. Fortunately, Christian love is not a feeling, but a choice. We can choose to be concerned with people's well being and treat them with respect, whether or not we feel affection toward them. If we choose to love others, God will give us the necessary strength and will show us how to express our love.
(3) Read 1 John 2:10,11
(4) Read 1 John 3:17-20
These verses give an example of how to lay down our lives for others. Christians must show their love, and one way to do that is to provide money to help meet others' needs. How clearly do your actions say you really love others? Are you as generous as you should be with your money, possessions, and time?
Somebody said this to a person who did not have a job, "Why don't you tithe 10% of your time?"
When you see someone in need, God is giving you an opportunity to help them and show them love. These commands are not impossible to follow. We're blessed when we obey and we are rewarded when we give.
(5) Read Colossians 3:12,13
(6) Read Proverb 15:9
(7) Read Proverb 8:17
(8) Read Proverb 8:21
(9) Read 1 John 3:14-18
(10) Read John 14:21
Jesus said that His followers show their love by obeying God. Love is more than lovely words, it is commitment and conduct. If you love Christ, then you can prove it by obeying what He says in His Word.
(11) Read Romans 12:9,10
(12) Read 2 John 1:6
(13) Read Psalm 145:20
(14) Read Psalm 91:14
(15) Read 1 Corinthians 2:9
There is a true story about a little boy whose sister needed a blood transfusion. She had the same disease the boy had recovered from two years earlier. Her only chance of recovery was a transfusion from someone who had previously conquered the disease. Since the two children had the same rare blood type, the boy was an ideal donor. The doctor asked him if he would give his blood to Mary. Johnny hesitated and his lower lip began to tremble. Then he smiled and said, "Sure, for my sister I'd do that." When the transfusion was nearly over, Johnny said, "Doctor, when do I die?" Only then did the doctor realize that Johnny's slight hesitation had been because he thought giving his blood to his sister would cause his death. And in a moment he had decided he loved her so much he would do it anyway.
That's the decision God made for us. God's love isn't love for what it can get in return. The kind of love God has for us has no expectations. There was no Greek word to describe the love of God through Jesus, so the word "agape" was brought into being. It means a love with no expectation in return. Loving because it is one's nature to love. That's the kind of love God has for us.
1 John 4:18-19 reads, "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because He first loved us."
If we ever fall prey to fear of eternity, Heaven, or God's judgment, we can remind ourselves of God's love. We know He loves us perfectly (Romans 8:38, 39). We can resolve our fears first by focusing on his immeasurable love for us, then by allowing Him to love others through us. We can be confident if in this life we have learned to be more like Jesus.
God's love is the source of all human love, and it spreads like fire. In loving His children, He kindles a flame in their hearts. In turn, they love others, who are warmed by God's love through them.
When the Lord Jesus, God in a bod, was hanging on the cross, dying for the whole world, He turned to one of the thieves next to Him. That thief expressed his faith in what Christ was doing. Jesus said to him, "Today you will be with Me in Paradise." Isn't that an interesting picture? God dying for the whole world and forgiving one individual in the process. That one person is you! Just as He reached out to the thief on the cross in the midst of His great universal sacrifice for humanity, He reaches out to us with His love today.
Billy Graham tells a story about the spokesman for his crusades, Cliff Barrows. Cliff's kids had done something they had been forbidden to do. He told them if they did it again, he would have to discipline them. When he returned from work and found out they hadn't minded, his heart went out for them. He just couldn't discipline them. So he called his small children into his room and took off his belt and his shirt and knelt at his bed. He made them strap him ten times each. They cried. They didn't want to do it. But Cliff told them the penalty had to be paid. Through their tears and sobs, they did what he told them to. Cliff said he wasn't much of a hero-it hurt. And he hadn't offered to do that one time since then. But the other side of it was that he never had to spank them again because they got the point. Christ paid the penalty for our sins: past, present, and future. He didn't kneel down by the bed to take ten strokes from a belt. He hung up on a cross and died to say to us, "I don't want you to have to pay the penalty you deserve. I will pay it for you." Then He stretched out His arms and said, "I love you this much," and He died.
Memorize 1 John 4:7 and 8. "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God and everyone that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not, knoweth not God, for God is love."
Romans 8:38 and 39 is a promise from God. Paul writes, "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
