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Love… Is it an emotion, an action, or a commandment? It’s been described as each one, but could it even be a blend of all three? To answer this question, let’s first determine what love actually is.
What is love?
The dictionary defines love as a strong feeling of deep affection for someone or a great interest in something. It’s a word that’s overly used and thrown around very casually. The world has even perverted the meaning for it’s own desires. Love is meant to be sincere. The Word of God has a deeper definition of love.
In 1 Corinthians 13 it says that “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, 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. Love never fails.” In verse 13 you’ll see three Christ-like characteristics mentioned which are: faith, hope, and love. The greatest of these is love.
There’s different stages of love such as: love of a friend, puppy love, love in relationships, family love, and love for your life passions. There’s also an even greater love that we’ll shine light on as well. So let’s jump on in and explore each one individually.
Love in Friendships
Friendships should have a level of love with trust. It’s where you share life experiences together, confide in each other, and even have each other’s back when need be. They deeply care about how you’re doing. Friends celebrate with you through the good times and comfort in the bad. The true love of a friend is a beautiful gift from God.
A true friend encourages you to achieve your goals and help make your dreams come true. They also support you while challenging your best efforts to succeed in life. However, that also means that you be the same kind of friend as well. In Proverbs 18:24 it’s written that there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
Puppy Love
Puppy love, also known as a crush, is an emotion that adolescents feel when they really like someone. It’s also categorized as infatuation and based on feelings alone. Puppy love is temporary, so it don’t ever last. An individual might like someone one week, then the next it could be someone totally different. You might love spending time with them because they make you happy, but it’s all on the surface.
Puppy love only goes so far before those feelings change. Every stage in life has it’s transformations, love is no different. As you get older, love develops into something deeper and you begin to see it differently. Especially through the relationships that you may have until you find the right one to marry.
Relationships
Love can be exciting yet dangerous in relationships. Everything is new and intoxicating which tends to cause moments to heat up. Some individuals take advantage of that moment to get something out of it for themselves. That’s an abusive use of love and even more so to the other person.
An important thing to keep in mind is, True Love Waits! Which means true love waits for the right time (marriage) and doesn’t give in to the moment. If someone really loves you then they can wait, if not then they aren’t for you. The best things in life are worth waiting for.
Try not to let your emotions effect your actions and decisions because they’ll highly deceive you. God created certain acts of love only to be between a man and a woman in marriage. The appropriate acts of love in this stage is respect, appreciation, and minor affection but know the limits.
As written in Colossians 3:5, “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry.” However, God does forgive those who has given in to certain things in the past. Only if one repents and turns away from those sinful acts.
Family Love
Love in a marriage is more action and a covenant rather than emotion. Real love never fails even during the bad days when emotions often change. It’s knowing the other person is always there for them and completely faithful. It’s shown by the way you talk and treat your spouse. Love is caring for that person through sickness and health no matter how you may feel in any given moment.
The Word of God tells us in Colossians 3:18-19, “Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your Wives and do not be harsh with them.” This means to love each other as yourselves. To respect and be kind to each other. Never be harsh or hateful for that is not fitting to God.
The love for your children goes beyond emotions or feelings. They tend to try our patience and push our buttons, but we still love them. Parents want the very best for their kids. To raise them right, even if it means correcting of the wrong behaviors. No matter their age either.
It’s a deep love that requires some action, biblical instruction, and guidance. Your emotions could effect your actions on discipline or decisions with guidance. Keep your feelings out of it and focus on the correct biblical manners. Even when they go through a rebellious stage, stay firm yet back it with love.
Life Passions
Your passions in life are driven by love. The love of why you do it and the amount you invest in it. When you’re passionate about something, then you also invest the time necessary to learn more about it as well. Everyone has something they love to do in life. There’s a wide variety of activities to choose from if you don’t have a favored one yet.
Take art for example. You invest not only in the essential supplies but also the time to learn certain techniques and hone your craft. Another passion is hunting. You invest time, emotions, efforts, and money to pursue that passion. Even devoting the time to gain more knowledge to know when and how to pursue the game of your choice.
There’s many types of sports that people are passionate about as well. There’s plenty of investments there just like anything else. If you don’t love something then you wouldn’t invest anything toward it would you? Love drives many things.
God’s Love
Now let’s talk about the greatest love we can have. It’s the love of God. His love is shown all over the Bible with many references but for this article I’ll only focus on the highlights. Let’s begin with how God ultimately showed his love for us in John 3:16 & 17. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For he did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”
He shows his love for us daily but many don’t acknowledge it. He protects us from things that sometimes we don’t see. It’s especially in the blessings that we have in life. God loves us so much that he created us with the ability to choose. He wants us to love him but not by force. Forced love isn’t real love. Love is one of nine fruits of the spirit. There’s also joy, peace, patient, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. As listed in Galatians 5:22-23. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear.
In the Bible, David faced fear throughout his life. He was a shepherd of his father’s flock, so he protected the flock from predators. David defeated a giant with the strength of God, a slingshot, and five stones. He proclaims in Psalm 13:5, “But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.” Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. Psalm 118:1
Commandments
God is love and he gave decrees in Leviticus that states to not take revenge or bear a grudge against one another, but to love your neighbor as yourself. A teacher of the laws asked Jesus what the most important commandment is in Mark 12:30-31. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. The second is: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no greater commandment than these.”
Jesus mentions another command in John 15:12-13, “Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” He also tells us in Matthew 5:44, to love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. Love embodies everything.
Emotion, Action, and Commandment
So I’d say we answered the question that love is an emotion, action, and a commandment. Be careful with depending on emotions alone because they can mislead you. Actions always speak louder than words. True love for God is expressed in our actions. John tells us in 1 John 3:18, “Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.”
God’s commandment to us is to love him with all our hearts, soul, mind, and strength. He might be a forgiving and merciful God, but he’s also a jealous God. He commanded us to love each other as yourselves, to even love your enemies. I know that’s hard to do but it’s possible. Ask God to help you with it. Love must be sincere and not abused. Always remember what David said in Psalms, that God’s love endures forever.
In closing I leave you with this verse from Ephesians 5:1 “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and give himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”
