Have you ever been asked to define love? Have you ever tried to define love? What are some key ingredients to love in your mind? Love isn’t an easy thing to define, is it? It isn’t unless you use the Bible’s definition.
Humans have been attempting to define love since the beginning of time. Well, perhaps not quite the beginning of time. After all, God created quite a few other things before He created man. Also, I believe the original humans knew what love inherently as when they walked with God in the Garden of Eden.
As time wore on, after the deception of Satan, and the hate of Cain we forgot how to describe love. We started trying to define it with feelings, emotions, and human words, rather than with the human heart. True love can only be defined with the heart.
Since we talk, write, and think, we do need a way to define true love as best we can. If for no other reason, to reinvigorate our hearts. To renew our hearts. To remind ourselves that God wants our hearts. To remind us our hearts long for God.
In an effort to describe what love is, today’s passage describes what does and does not. Isn’t that how we are? We describe ourselves by what we do. In fact, I am having T-shirts made that say, “Disciple, Pastor, Marine” on the front of them. Why? To give people, at a glance, a description of who I am.
Today’s passage lists patience, kindness, protection, trust, hope, and perseverance to describe love. It also says love is not proud, does not dishonor, not self-seeking, not easily angered, keeps no record of wrongs, does not delight in evil. Love does and does not.
This is a passage we might want to keep handy. Perhaps we keep it on our smart phone, post it on our dashboard, set it on our desk, post it on our mirror, put it anywhere we will see it on a daily basis. As we read it over and over, it will become second nature for us to know what love is.
I pray we all know what love is and is not. I pray we commit to demonstrate love as defined in the Bible. I pray each one of us post today’s passage where we can see it each day. Know what love is. Know how the Bible defines love. Demonstrate love. Be a loving person.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Marty Pressey 