"Love"

Definition of LOVE (www.merriam-webster.com)

1 a (1) : strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties <maternal love for a child> (2) : attraction based on sexual desire : affection and tenderness felt by lovers (3) : affection based on admiration, benevolence, or common interests <love for his old schoolmates> b : an assurance of affection <give her my love>

2 : warm attachment, enthusiasm, or devotion <love of the sea>

3 a : the object of attachment, devotion, or admiration <baseball was his first love> b (1) : a beloved person : darling —often used as a term of endearment (2) British —used as an informal term of address

4 a : unselfish loyal and benevolent concern for the good of another: as (1) : the fatherly concern of God for humankind (2) : brotherly concern for others b : a person's adoration of God

5: a god or personification of love

6 : an amorous episode : love affair

7 : the sexual embrace : copulation

8 : a score of zero (as in tennis)

9 capitalized Christian Science : god

What is love? According to Merriam Webster’s online dictionary, there are different types of love; from different types of love for other humans to love for inanimate objects. In the Bible, we see love used in more than one context.

Let’s take a look at Agape love. Agape love is unmerited, undeserved, feeling (love) for another; not asking nor expecting anything in return. It is the kind of love a parent has for a child. We love our children no matter what. They do not have to earn it, they can never lose it.

I watched a program tonight about different people, Christians and non-believers, and how they felt compelled to help people in need. Some went to Haiti, some went to Mississippi and some New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. One segment was about Christians talking to a large homosexual community and another was about a group of believers who were washing the feet of homeless people.

This got me to thinking; do we love (agape) others? Do we reach out to people who don’t agree with our religious beliefs? Do we or can we hug a homeless person who smells like the street they sleep on? Can we hug a person who has AIDS? What about a child who has lice? Do we love the guy trying to get money for a bottle of wine?

I’m not saying we should condone sinful lifestyles, but do we love these people? Does our heart break for them? Do we offer kind words, or a prayer? Do we lie awake at night thinking about them? Do we consider where they will spend eternity and the horror that awaits them?

I pray that God would put it in our hearts to love as He does. I want to put my fears and prejudices aside and love them. Jesus said the greatest command was to love the Lord your God with all your heart and the second was to love others as yourself. Paul said he could have great spiritual gifts but if he didn’t have love he was nothing.

I believe we live in a culture that has forgotten what true love is. Even within the Christian community divorce rates are just as high as in the secular.  The government takes care of the widow and the orphan when Jesus said that was the responsibility of the church. We send money to support missionaries in far off lands but we don’t even know the names of the family next door.

I am not trying to criticize, but I see where I have failed miserably. My guess is that others have failed as well. I pray that the Lord would forgive us and put love for others in our hearts. How can we ask God to forgive us and love us if we are not willing to forgive and love others?

   ³⁴ But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. ³⁵ Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, ³⁶ “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”
³⁷ Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the first and great commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁴⁰ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” –Matthew 22:34-40

And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. –I Corinthians 13:2