More than a feeling

Love. It is the topic of countless stories. It is the theme of many songs. There have been hundreds, if not thousands, of movies built around the idea of love.
So why is love such a significant part of the human experience?
Consider what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13. You may have read this or heard it hundreds of times. But take time to read it carefully and answer the questions I have inserted…
Love is patient and kind. Am I?
Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Am I?
It does not demand its own way. Do I?
It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. Am I?
It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Do I?
Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. Do I?
Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.
Did you stop to consider the question at the end of each line? If not, stop, go back up there, and read each line. Then ask yourself each of those questions.
Because this passage is so familiar to us, we often glance over it and miss the power behind the words.
The same is true with our understanding and approach to love. We have been so immersed in a culture that tells us so many lies about love and redefines what the word means.
To our culture today, love means I get what I want if you love me. Love means that we have sex because we are attracted to each other, not to seal a life-long covenant between two individuals. It means that I set aside all reason and chase an emotion.
True love, the kind that Creator God embodies and envisions for each of us, has been pushed into a corner. Rather than love being an unconditional, unselfish commitment to others, it has become an excuse to follow our passions and pursue our own interests. It has been used to give us permission to follow our desires and often ignore what is best for others and in the long run. Maybe we would do well to seek out love from God’s perspective and make that the definition of love that we live by.

shine!
Jason