This Thing Called Love

Love is such a broad term. It refers to so many things. For the purpose of this project, I want to narrow it down a little bit. I want to start with the love that God has for us. Of course, that is also a huge topic! I will just touch on it a little bit. I think if we are to understand love and show it to others, we have to know how God loves us.

We have glimpses and examples of God's love here on earth. Often, God's love for us is referred to in Scripture as a parent's love for his child. Think for a moment about how much you love your children. I know that the love I have for my two kids is stronger than anything else I have ever felt in my life. I know that, without hesitation, I would die for my kids. I would jump in front of a moving vehicle, bullet, whatever, to protect them. And I wouldn't even think about it. I look at them and I'm overwhelmed with emotion. I can't imagine loving anyone or anything else more than that. This is how God loves us and then some! Let that sink in. God loves us infinitely more than we love our own children. Wow.

In I Corinthians 13:12, Paul says "Now we see but a poor reflection..." Apply this to love. If the reflection of God's love here on earth is a parent's love for a child, how tremendous is God's love for us! My great love for my children is only a poor reflection of how God loves me. Not even a very good reflection! What love the Father has for us, that the strongest love known to man is but a weak reflection! Again, wow.

I Corinthians also says that everything else will pass away, but only love will remain. That is how important this quality is. If we think of this life as a preparation for the life to come, then developing the fruit of love becomes even more important. In God's kingdom, there will be no need for a lot of things, like prophecy and speaking in tongues as mentioned in I Corinthians 13. We won't need hope either, because our hope will be realized in finally being in God's presence. Also, since we are in God's presence, there will be no need for faith. Hebrews defines faith as "being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Hebrews 11:1. We will see God, so no need for faith anymore. But love will remain: the overwhelming love that the Father has for us and our great love for Him.

I want us all to digest this a little bit, so I'm going to continue the discussion on love and give some practical suggestions for growing in love in the next post! Please let me know what you think of my thoughts here! Anything to add?