Day 05 – My Definition of Love, in great detail

Oh great. I've been avoiding this one. There are too many different elements to it. It completely depends on what type of love you are speaking of. Although, all love should be based off of the love of Christ.

Well, to be typical (and rightfully so), you should read 1 Corinthians 13:

^"1 If I speak in the tongues^[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³ If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,^[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.

⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

⁸ Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹ For we know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰ but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. ¹¹ When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. ¹²For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

¹³ And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." (NIV)

Honestly, that is the best description that I can give. Verses 4-7 give basic descriptions of what love should look like. It's the part of this passage that is most well known. But the part of the passage that I especially am challenged by are verses 1-3. The fact that you can do all those listed actions and still be without love is astounding. When many people think of giving to the poor, or "giving over [their bodies] to hardship", they think that of course they have love. But you can do these things for the wrong reasons. Love is necessarily something that you act upon with no thought for yourself. "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13, NIV). This, I suppose, is my definition of love. Self-sacrificing, true love for others.

I think this carries into all aspects of love. Whether you are loving God, your family, your husband, wife, boyfriend, girlfriend, friend, acquaintance, or enemy (yes, even your enemy), I believe that you have to be willing to sacrifice your own comfort for them.

My last thought: Love is NOT a feeling! And it is NOT an emotion! So many people want that butterfly feeling, that dancing under the stars, I'm floating in the clouds feeling. And you will probably have that at the beginning. But it won't necessarily stay with you every moment of every day. Love is a choice.

Anyone remember DC Talk? I'll leave you with their song, "Luv is a Verb"

Boom! Burn! Bip! Yeah! Pow! Hey, ha ha.

Down with the dc Talk, d- d- down with the dc Talk

Are you down with the dc Talk, d- d- down with the dc Talk

Pullin' out my big black book

Cause when I need a word defined that's where I look

So I move to the L's quick, fast, in a hurry

Threw on my specs, thought my vision was blurry

I looked again but to my dismay

It was black and white with no room for grey

Ya see, a big "V" stood beyond my word

And yo that's when it hit me, that luv is a verb

Words come easy but don't mean much

When the words they're sayin' we can't put trust in

We're talkin' 'bout love in a different light

And if we all learn to love it would be just right

Hey, tell me haven't ya heard?

Luv, is a serious word

Hey, I think it's time ya learned

I don't care what they say

I don't care care what ya heard

The word luv, luv is a verb

Down with the dc Talk, d- d- down with the dc Talk

Are you down with the dc Talk, d- d- down with the dc Talk

Thinkin' of a way to explain-o

Cause ya' know when I'm flowin' like a bottle of Drain-o

Simple and plain, L-O-V-E

Ain't all that junk that ya see on TV

Put soaps on a rope cause they ain't worth copin' with

It's a myth that there ain't no hope and

Luv is enough if it's unconditionally

Givin' now you're living out the Great Commission

Back in the day there was a man

Who stepped out of Heaven and he walked the land

He delivered to the people an eternal choice

With a heart full of luv and the truth in His voice

Gave up His life so that we may live

How much more luv could the Son of God give?

Here is the example that we oughtta be matchin'

Cause luv is a word that requires some action

I know, old and silly, but I love DC Talk.