Definition Of Love

DEFINITION OF LOVE

Naturally the absolute truth of the Bible and the philosophy of the world are in direct opposition with one another. An individual’s understanding of the world around him is going to be determined by his foundation for truth. It is essential that a Christian be grounded in the truth; in order to be able to detect the false reasoning of the world, and that his foundation is in the Word of God. This is true with all areas of life, but is even more important in easily misunderstood areas. One such area is the idea of love. What does God have to say about love in contrast to what the world understands love to be?

The Bible in its entirety is a love letter from God to mankind. Nevertheless, one can find a concise definition of love on one of the letters written by that apostle whom Jesus loved. In I John 4:7-10 the apostle writes by the Holy Spirit saying: “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”

Here we are commanded to love, and given the source and definition of that love with the example of how to apply it to life. One dictionary defines love as an intense mental sate that arises subjectively rather than through conscious effort. This definition adequately summarizes the belief of the world regarding love. Now let us look at the great contrast between these definitions and the way that they are applied to life.

God clearly commands us to love. It is a choice, not some emotion that uncontrollably comes over us without any effort on our part. That choice is carried out by action and truth in obedience to what God has commanded us to do. I John 5:3: “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.” I John 3:18: “My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth”.

The world has created for itself a definition of love because it has never received love. If a man does not have God, then he does not have love. Even the natural man is able to understand that love is not in him and comes from some outside source. That is why he believes it to be a subjective emotion. We only have love through God and we only have God through Christ, because love is the extension of God within us. The greatest act of this giving was in the sacrificial death of the Son of God on the cross of Calvary. 1 John 3:16: “Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren”.

True love is the process of extending yourself to others. The world’s love is the process of selfishly extracting the things from others it believes will make it happy. Degrees of love are based on different levels of giving yourself to others within the proper boundaries. Degrees of love are not based on different levels of intense emotion. The world believes that one can “fall in love”. However, God has commanded us to love and we cannot just helplessly fall into His will. There are individuals that provide a greater source of external motivation for us to love them, but we must still make the choice to love within the bounds of truth. The truth is that we are to love even our enemies, the people that hate us and use us.

Matt 5:43-46: “Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?”

The world is also afraid to correct others and to point out fault in others for the fear that they will “hurt” them because of its unscriptural view of love. Nevertheless, we are told that because we love one another we are to admonish one another with love and according to the truth. Prov. 27:5-6, “Open rebuke is better than secret love. Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful”. The failure to do this service is the real hurt to those around us. In fact, the very essence of sin is failure to extend ourselves perfectly to God and to the world around us. Sin is a lack of love.

God’s definition of love is one that is not natural to us, and can only be displayed and understood by those who know him according to this passage of Scripture. 1 John 4:7-8: “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.”

For this very reason it is a must that Christians have a Scriptural viewpoint of love, and do not accept the fallacies of heathen rationalistic thought. We are commanded to reveal Christ to the dying world around us, and it is the goodness of God that bringeth man to repentance (Rom. 2:4). So if a Christian does not understand and apply that love to his life, the world may never see it in order to own it for itself.

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