What is love? Love is such a complex thing that our world has attempted to make so trivial. How can we both love a cheeseburger, but then turn around in the same conversation and say that we love our boyfriend? “Love at first sight” has been a cliché many people have used throughout history, but how can one possibly know love when they fail to hear the heart of the other person? Our culture has now made our lustful passions toward each other seem like love, and even worse, people have now turned sex, something that symbolizes the greatest form of love, into something that people do “just for fun.” So again I ask, what is love?
“Love makes up for all offenses”—Proverbs 10:12
“Love your neighbor as yourself”—Galatians 5:14
“Love your enemies”—Luke 6:27
“There is no greater love than to lay down your life for a friend”—John 15:13
“If I didn’t love others, I would be nothing”—1 Corinthians 13:2
“We prove ourselves by our sincere love”—2 Corinthians 6:6
“For love comes from God”—1 John 4:7
“God is love”—1 John 4:16
“Love does no wrong”—Romans 13:10
“Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful and endures through every circumstance.”—1 Corinthians 13:7
“Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love”—1 Corinthians 13:13
“Love will last forever”—1Corinthians 13:8
“Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.”—1 Corinthians 13:4-6
Love is one of the most common themes of the Bible, and is one that is continually referred back to. In fact, the word ‘love’ is mentioned 686 times throughout the Bible.
So now, can we really call it love if our love doesn’t outline everything in 1 Corinthians 13:4-6? If two people get divorced did they ever really love each other, for “love lasts forever” (1 Corinthians 13:8)? And what about when people say “my love for them just faded”? How is that possible when love lasts forever? Is love a feeling or action? Is there someone out there for everyone? Also, if “God is love” (1 John 4:16) then can two people really love each other if they don’t have God at the center? Can love be unrequited or one sided? And how can one love their enemies to the same extent as one loves their future husband? These are all essential fundamentals to understanding this thing called ‘love’.
I’m not going to pretend to know all the answers to this universal question, nor do I believe that I will ever understand this concept fully, however I do believe that God created love as one of the most powerful things that we have in this life and until we fully understand it we cannot experience it to its full extent. So just as 1 Corinthians 14:1 says, “Let love be your highest goal!”
The English translation of the Bible is very different than the original Hebrew language that the Bible was initially written in. The word ‘love’ in the English translation serves to constitute and combine three different words in the Hebrew language.
· ‘Raya’ means friend or companion
· ‘Ahavah’ is to have a deep longing for another and to desire to be with someone so much that the heart aches; love of the will; commitment
· ‘Dode’ is the sexual element to a relationship
So why do so many of us feel so empty in our relationships? Well, maybe it’s because we are treating love only as a single, independent element. Real love, love from God, wasn’t meant to just consist of ‘raya’, ‘ahavah’, or ‘dode’ independently, they were meant to be joined together to form this powerful thing. That’s why so many of us are left empty and brokenhearted from relationships. We are treating our love independently as either ‘raya’, ‘ahavah’, or ‘dode’ and therefore are refusing to kindle the three together. When two people combine a friendship with a sexual relationship but refuse to commit, they have ‘raya’ and ‘dode’ without the ‘ahavah’. Or when two people in a marriage relationship have both ‘raya’ and ‘ahavah’ but no ‘dode’, their relationship becomes dry. It is the marrying of the three words and actions that creates the most powerful form of love between a man and a woman.
But please note, there are different types of love. I believe that one can still love someone without having all three of the Hebrew terms, but I don’t believe that one can fully experience the power of love without all three. God intended different relationships for different types of love. For example, he calls us to love our enemies, but that obviously is not going to even compare to the love that one has with their best friend. Additionally, the love that one has for a friend is not going to compare to the love between a husband and wife.
So therefore, what is love? Love is a deeply passionate feeling backed up by the action of commitment. It’s about making the decision to care for a person unconditionally no matter what they do or say. Love is a connection of spirits in that you feel the other person’s pain. It’s about being there for them through thick and thin. It’s about aching for their presence in your life. And it’s about committing your heart to them.
Love is a precious thing, and truly a gift from God. If “God is love” then God’s love is the truest and purest form of love, and something that we as people should continually be striving toward. Love isn’t about being all the things outlined in 1 Corinthians 13:4-6, but it’s about consciously striving toward those things. It isn’t about being perfect or having it all together, but it’s about being vulnerable in the face of love. Love isn’t about seeing a person for the first time and being drawn to them; it’s about seeing their true heart and loving it. Love isn’t about finding yourself or looking to gain something, it’s about completely humbling yourself, and giving something more than you have. It’s about offering, smiling, experiencing, crying, moving, caring, and giving. No natural disaster, no army, no dictator, no enemy, and no demon can ever destroy love, for love is something that will last forever and something that will never die. It is the greatest gift ever given, so please, I beg of you, use it wisely.
