Grow in Love
Love: More Than Just a Feeling
What is love? It's a question that has puzzled philosophers, inspired artists, and perplexed scientists for centuries. Our culture often defines love in two broad ways: as a feeling or as a biological imperative. But is that all there is to it?
The artistic view paints love as an emotion, a feeling of care and affection. As Kendrick Lamar mused, "If I didn't ride blade on curb, would you still love me?" It's about feeling valued and cared for, regardless of external factors.
On the other hand, science often reduces love to a cocktail of brain chemicals - dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin - that create pleasure and satisfaction to further the species. But deep down, we know there's more to love than mere emotion or biology.
We've all experienced moments of unconditional kindness, goodness, and self-sacrifice that defy explanation by feelings or evolutionary instincts alone. Love is more than a feeling, and it's more than survival of the fittest.
The Bible offers a profound perspective: God is love. This means that the universe isn't just a product of chance or unguided physical processes. Instead, it's a spiritual place created by a personal God who is engaged with every detail of our lives.
In Mark 12, Jesus teaches us about the true nature of love. When asked about the greatest commandment, He responds with what's known as the Shema: "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength."
This statement reveals that love is rooted in our relationship with God. The Lord is not a distant clockmaker who set the universe in motion and stepped away. He's a personal being who created humanity for relationship and pursues us for reconciliation, even after we've fallen into sin and rebellion.
Jesus then turns this profound truth into a command: love God with everything you have. This isn't just about having warm feelings toward God during a worship service. It's about total devotion - loving God with every fiber of our being.
But Jesus doesn't stop there. He adds a second commandment: "Love your neighbor as yourself." Our love for God should overflow into love for others. This isn't just about being nice or avoiding evil. It's about actively seeking the good of others, even at our own expense.
To help us grasp this concept of love, let's consider three images:
The story of the sinful woman in Luke 7 beautifully illustrates these concepts. A woman with a questionable reputation crashes a dinner party at a religious leader's house. She weeps at Jesus' feet, wiping them with her hair and anointing them with expensive perfume. The host is scandalized, but Jesus uses this moment to teach a profound lesson about love and forgiveness.
He tells a parable about two debtors - one who owed a large amount and another who owed much less. When both debts were forgiven, Jesus asks which debtor would love the creditor more. The answer is obvious: the one who was forgiven more.
Jesus then applies this to the situation at hand. The woman's extravagant display of love was a result of recognizing how much she had been forgiven. In contrast, the self-righteous host, believing he had little to be forgiven for, showed little love.
This story teaches us a crucial truth: the more we recognize our need for forgiveness, the more we can love. It's not about wallowing in guilt, but about acknowledging our spiritual poverty and embracing the richness of God's grace.
So how do we grow in love? It starts with looking honestly into the mirror of God's perfect love. We need to get in touch with how little we truly love and how great our need for grace is. But we don't stop there. We bring our brokenness to Jesus, receiving His forgiveness and transforming love.
As we receive God's love, we're filled with His Spirit, who gives us a new heart capable of loving God and others. This becomes a lifelong process of growth, as God's love becomes our compass, guiding our decisions and actions.
The world is indeed looking for love, but often in all the wrong places. As believers, we have a better message and a greater power - the transforming love of God in Christ. This love transcends mere feelings or biology. It's a love that can change hearts, heal relationships, and transform communities.
May we all look into the mirror of God's love, see both His goodness and our need, and receive His life-changing grace. And may we follow the compass of His love, growing day by day in our capacity to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love our neighbors as ourselves.
In a world hungry for genuine love, let's be bearers of this transformative, divine love that can truly satisfy the deepest longings of the human heart.
The artistic view paints love as an emotion, a feeling of care and affection. As Kendrick Lamar mused, "If I didn't ride blade on curb, would you still love me?" It's about feeling valued and cared for, regardless of external factors.
On the other hand, science often reduces love to a cocktail of brain chemicals - dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin - that create pleasure and satisfaction to further the species. But deep down, we know there's more to love than mere emotion or biology.
We've all experienced moments of unconditional kindness, goodness, and self-sacrifice that defy explanation by feelings or evolutionary instincts alone. Love is more than a feeling, and it's more than survival of the fittest.
The Bible offers a profound perspective: God is love. This means that the universe isn't just a product of chance or unguided physical processes. Instead, it's a spiritual place created by a personal God who is engaged with every detail of our lives.
In Mark 12, Jesus teaches us about the true nature of love. When asked about the greatest commandment, He responds with what's known as the Shema: "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength."
This statement reveals that love is rooted in our relationship with God. The Lord is not a distant clockmaker who set the universe in motion and stepped away. He's a personal being who created humanity for relationship and pursues us for reconciliation, even after we've fallen into sin and rebellion.
Jesus then turns this profound truth into a command: love God with everything you have. This isn't just about having warm feelings toward God during a worship service. It's about total devotion - loving God with every fiber of our being.
But Jesus doesn't stop there. He adds a second commandment: "Love your neighbor as yourself." Our love for God should overflow into love for others. This isn't just about being nice or avoiding evil. It's about actively seeking the good of others, even at our own expense.
To help us grasp this concept of love, let's consider three images:
- Love as a Shield: When we truly love God and our neighbors, everything works better. Crime decreases, families are strengthened, and justice prevails. Love protects us from harm and guides us on a good path.
- Love as a Mirror: When we look into the mirror of God's perfect love, we see both His character and our own flaws. We realize how far we fall short of His standard. But in this mirror, we also see Jesus, who bridges the gap between our failure to love and God's perfect love.
- Love as a Compass: Once we receive God's love and forgiveness through Christ, His love becomes a guide for our lives. It directs our decisions and actions, helping us grow in our capacity to love God and others.
The story of the sinful woman in Luke 7 beautifully illustrates these concepts. A woman with a questionable reputation crashes a dinner party at a religious leader's house. She weeps at Jesus' feet, wiping them with her hair and anointing them with expensive perfume. The host is scandalized, but Jesus uses this moment to teach a profound lesson about love and forgiveness.
He tells a parable about two debtors - one who owed a large amount and another who owed much less. When both debts were forgiven, Jesus asks which debtor would love the creditor more. The answer is obvious: the one who was forgiven more.
Jesus then applies this to the situation at hand. The woman's extravagant display of love was a result of recognizing how much she had been forgiven. In contrast, the self-righteous host, believing he had little to be forgiven for, showed little love.
This story teaches us a crucial truth: the more we recognize our need for forgiveness, the more we can love. It's not about wallowing in guilt, but about acknowledging our spiritual poverty and embracing the richness of God's grace.
So how do we grow in love? It starts with looking honestly into the mirror of God's perfect love. We need to get in touch with how little we truly love and how great our need for grace is. But we don't stop there. We bring our brokenness to Jesus, receiving His forgiveness and transforming love.
As we receive God's love, we're filled with His Spirit, who gives us a new heart capable of loving God and others. This becomes a lifelong process of growth, as God's love becomes our compass, guiding our decisions and actions.
The world is indeed looking for love, but often in all the wrong places. As believers, we have a better message and a greater power - the transforming love of God in Christ. This love transcends mere feelings or biology. It's a love that can change hearts, heal relationships, and transform communities.
May we all look into the mirror of God's love, see both His goodness and our need, and receive His life-changing grace. And may we follow the compass of His love, growing day by day in our capacity to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love our neighbors as ourselves.
In a world hungry for genuine love, let's be bearers of this transformative, divine love that can truly satisfy the deepest longings of the human heart.
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