Are we defining Love as God Defines it?

 

He is the source of light and truth and IS love.  So if we define it other than His way, we have accepted a lie. 

God manifested His love in the offering of His son.  Love is manifest as sacrifice.  Sacrifice is giving of something good for something sacred.  Heathen sacrifice, was not only a distortion of God's law of sacrifice, the very act of defining what was done was a deception and was calling what was evil sacred and what was sacred, only good.  Human life, as a representation of God (being in His image), is sacred.  Jesus gave his infinite life for all of us to have the opportunity for the same. One infinite life, for many-to do the will of The Father.  He shows us that there is nothing more sacred than doing the will of the Father, Giving our lives for Him.

In family life (I do not say "traditional", for God defined the family the biblical definition is the real one) we are called upon to give our lives for others.  A woman walks through the valley of the shadow of death to bring a child into this world, and in a true sense, if she is not neglectful her life is given for the child.  Unless she takes extreme measures, her heart and soul will be interconnected with the well-being of her children for all of her life. A father sacrifices himself for the family too. His heart and desires are turned to the care and protection of them.

We are indoctrinated in stories, music, commercials, etc. from our earliest years to believe that love is the butterflies in our tummies, the tingles on our spines, the tightening of our gut that comes with attraction.  Perhaps dependence on these fleeting sensations is why divorce has become almost as common as marriage. These feelings can fade easily and be provoked by someone we are not married to, can depend on tiredness, hunger, fatigue, our environment.  But true love is something we actually have a lot more control over.  It is lived through commitment, discipline, gratitude, forgiveness, service, kindness, compassion, looking to the welfare of others, patient and long-suffering.  Love is manifest in caring for others to the same degree or more than we care for ourselves and there is no danger in this, unless you are in a relationship with one who is seeking only their own interests.  Then the suffering is truly long....and is not kind. We need to be asking ourselves: Am I seeking the welfare of those I believe I love to the same or greater degree than I am seeking my own? Am I causing a need for another's long-suffering?

In a way, love is the opposite of our natural feelings, it is the constant and conscious decision to be loyal and submit our own wills and pleasures to the will of the Lord in service to others. Loving Him first allows us to learn from Him how best to love others.  I submit that the scriptures were given to us for such a purpose: that we may learn the love and charracter of God, so we might now HOW God loves and desires us to love others.  The fleeting emotions and chemical/hormonal responses of our bodies, are not love but can be a by product of it if we are diligent.  Those feelings were designed for a purpose, to aid us in building strong relationships, but the strength is in the choice to serve, help, care for, and protect those we are responsible for (God made us responsible for each other by commanding us to love one another), especially our spouses and children.  The experience of those feelings cannot be our goal, it may be a by product of living in love, but when feeling good is the priority, we often forget DOING good because doing good is hard work.

Maybe it is like trees and seeds.  I love peaches, sweet, juicy, somewhat soft: delicious.  If I live for the taste of the peach, I might eat them all up without taking the time to plant and nurture the growth of the tree needed to grow them in abundance.  If I focus on the planting and nurturing, I'll get the peach eventually, and MANY of them.  But if I was only focussed on tasting the fruit, I will squander the opportunity to give and provide an abundance of it. I have felt good, without doing good. I believe that is part of the trouble we face in our world, people want to feel good without having to do good. Are we planting orchards or devouring peaches without thought for what God would have us create?

The Saviour set the example.  With all the power there is at His disposal He wore out his life, giving it-in FACT-in service to God and in serving God saving His fellow-men.  Are we defining love as feeling good, or sacrifice? Are we wrapped up in a deception or are we defining things as they really are, in accordance with the LORD's definition?  

Whom can I serve?

What need I do?

How can I help?

Are these, in fact, the questions of love? of Peace? Of citizenship in God's Kingdom?