Is It a Question Without an Answer?
What is the true meaning of love? That’s the question of the ages, right? Philosophers, academics, musicians, poets, and even everyday people have pondered the true meaning of love for centuries upon centuries. They have written countless books about it, they’ve debated it to exhaustion, and they’ve sung endless songs about it. Some people sadly have given up on the concept of “love” altogether. But with all of the reasoning, debate, theorizing, and even disillusionment, nobody has ever settled on a true answer, have they?
It’s now February, and with the coming of Valentine’s Day, some people’s thoughts again come back around to that age-old question and its seemingly elusive solution. But what if we told you that we know the answer? Not only do we know the answer, but we are confident that it is really the one, true meaning of love. Interested? Curious? Desperate for the answer? This month, let’s reason together about the true meaning of love. Actually, the answer to the question “what is love?” is very simple …but very deep.
You Can’t Define Love Without God
In pursuit of the true meaning of love, we first must adjust our initial question. To find the right answer, we have to realize that the question shouldn’t be “what is love?” The correct question to ask really is “who is love?” When we ask this question, we find the answer in the truth of the Bible. 1 John 4:8b simply tells us, “… for God is love.” We simply can’t define love without God because God is love. God designed true love, and so, God defines true love. This is the reason that the world experiences so much trouble in discovering the true meaning of love. It is because many people have rejected God in their lives. They are trying to solve the problem while ignoring the real solution. Again, you can’t define love without God.
So what is the love of God? How can we understand it? When we discuss the concept of love, we are slightly at a loss with the English language. There are many different kinds of love, such as romantic love, familial love, the love of friends, and more. However, we only have the word “love” to encompass them all. In the Greek language, there are different words to define different concepts of love. For example, the word “eros” means romantic love, and the word “philia” means deep friendship or brotherly love. The Greek word “agape” defines the love of God. It means the greatest, deepest love of all. This is an unconditional, unending love for everyone, including you. In fact, God’s love is so deep and so unconditional that nothing will ever cause Him to stop loving you. The Bible states in Romans 8:38-39, “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
But love is more than words, right? True love reveals itself through actions. So how did God reveal His great love for us? Let’s go back to the Bible. Jesus tells us this in John 15:13: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” God loves you so much that He sent Jesus Christ to die on the cross for you. John 3:16 states, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” As well, 1 John 4:10 tells us, “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” God loves you so much that He gave up His Son for you. Jesus loves you so much that He willingly came to die for you, “… for the joy that was set before him endured the cross” (Hebrews 12:2). That truly is the greatest love.
So faced with such a great display of love toward us, how do we show our love for Jesus? We show it through our actions; more specifically, by obeying Him. 1 John 5:3 tells us, “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.”
All Other Love is an Extension of God’s Love
What about our love toward other people? How do we love our spouses? Our parents? Our children? Our friends? Since God is love, it is His definition of love that must govern all other love and relationships in our lives. As Christians, we try to live by Jesus’ example. So He calls us to love everybody the way He did – sacrificially and not just in our words, but in actions. 1 John 3:18 states, “My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.” This exemplifies how husbands love their wives, how wives love their husbands, how siblings love each other, how parents love their children, and how friends love each other. Will we love perfectly? Not at all. We are not perfect people, just forgiven. But every day, we can try to follow God’s wisdom in Philippians 2:3, “…let each esteem other better than themselves.”
You know, it’s relatively easy to love somebody, though, when they love you back. But what does God say about loving those who don’t love you, even those who may viciously hate you? Certainly, Jesus doesn’t expect us to love them, right? Again, let’s see what the Bible says. In Matthew 5:44-45, Jesus tells us, “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in Heaven: for He maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” Jesus even wants us to love our enemies. Easier said than done, right? But we are to love them because God loves them. We need to see them the way that God sees them. He sees them just like He sees us, people He loves, so much so that He sent Jesus to shed His blood and die for them, too.
We Love You, and We Want You to Experience the Love of Jesus
Maybe this concept of God’s love is new to you. Maybe you’ve never considered that God defines love and has the deepest, purest, and greatest love for you. Here at the R.O.C.K. Club in Radford, VA, we love you, and we want you to experience the greatest love of all, a love that will change your life. We want you to experience the love of Jesus.
It is true that God loves you, but your sins separate you from Him, not just now, but forever. Sadly, there is nothing you can do yourself to repair that relationship with Him, because of those same sins. But Jesus loves you so much that He came here from Heaven, took your sins as His own, and died on the cross to fully pay the sin debt you owed. Through that, Jesus now offers eternal life to you as a gift. All you have to do to receive it is trust Him alone and ask Him to save you. Then you can experience the great love of Jesus Christ, too!
The R.O.C.K. Club in Radford, VA, offers excellent, compassionate Christian child care and tutoring. Call us today at (540) 267-3000 for more information on our services. Discover how you can have a real relationship with God through Jesus Christ, and the true meaning of love.