How would you describe love?

Have you ever considered our use of the word, “Love?” There are different kinds of love. When we say we love pizza we don’t mean the same thing as when we say we love our mom.

When God talks about love, what does He mean?

With all the different ways we use the word, you might think it’s a vague concept in the Bible, however, it’s not. Thankfully, God describes love in the Bible. Perhaps the most vivid description of love is in 1 Corinthians 13.

When I hear people talk about love, they often are describing an emotion. They’ll talk about the emotional attachment to their kids as love or their attraction to the person they are dating as love. I’ve always found it interesting that God doesn’t describe an emotion.

God describes love as a bunch of actions and characteristics, being humble, content, patient, kind, and forgiving. This makes His command to love our enemies make more sense. I may not like my enemy (the person who seeks to hurt me), but I can still do these actions God calls love.

I can be kind and patient even when I don’t feel the emotion we call love…even when I feel hurt or angry.

In fact, love can often mean pushing aside our emotions in order to do something good and right. You feel like punching someone on the nose, but instead, you help them. You feel like cursing someone, but instead, you bless them. Jesus talked about this.