Love is a popular topic to discuss in the modern day. Mainstream Hollywood presents love in a radically different way than the truth of love in the Bible. Popular mainstream culture presents love as being lustful, infatuation, and a feeling; however, true love in the Bible is presented to us differently. Love, according to the Bible, is putting someone else in front of you just as Jesus died for us.
What Is True Love?
Love is not based on feelings or how a person looks. Rather, love is an intentional choice. You can love somebody without liking them. In fact, God tells us to love all people. Jesus tells us, “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:12-13).
There will be many people we will encounter in our lives that we just don’t like, but we still have to love them. As Christians, we should not hate anyone. We are to love others just as Jesus loved us. 1 Corinthians 13 tells us the true description of love.
Paul describes love as being patient, kind, not envious, not boastful, not proud, not dishonoring, not self-seeking, not easily angered, and keeps no record of wrongs (1 Corinthians 13:4-5). Paul continues by saying, “Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres” (1 Corinthians 13:6-7).
Love never ever fails (1 Corinthians 13:8a). Even when everything else in our life might pass away, God’s love never goes away or ends. God’s love is different from mankind’s love. Within humanity, the level of our love seems to fluctuate depending on how we are feeling if the person wronged us, or another reason as to why the person has upset us.
God’s love is different because it is agape love, which is unconditional and never changing. The love God has for us doesn’t change depending on what we do or don’t do. God’s love is based on His true, caring, and loving heart.
Even when others might grow upset with us or stop loving us, God never does. His love is steadfast, secure, and firm. From our best days to our worst days, God still loves us unconditionally.
The agape love God has for us is unique and superior to all of the other types of love. The greatest demonstration of God’s agape love is when Jesus died on the cross for our sins (John 3:16-17; Isaiah 53:5). God loved us so much that He willingly sent His Son to die for the world.
Ever since the Fall of Man, humanity has been separated from God and has had a broken relationship with Him. It is only by Jesus’ death on the cross and placing faith in Him that we can have a restored relationship with Him.
Prior to us placing faith in Christ, God still loves us. Romans 5:8 tells us, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” When God created mankind, He created us special. He gave us free will, the ability to feel emotions, and the ability to take care of all that He entrusted to us.
From the time God created Adam and Eve, He loved them. After Adam and Eve sinned against God in the Garden and fell, God could have completely destroyed mankind and never create another human being again, but due to His immense love for mankind, He covered Adam and Eve’s guilt with animal hides and disciplined them by casting them out of the Garden, albeit with several consequences of sin (Genesis 3:1-24).
God chose to give us a second chance and provided us with the free gift of salvation by placing faith in Christ. The Lord didn’t make it difficult for us to know Him, place faith in Him, and receive redemption as all we have to do is place faith in Jesus as our Lord and Savior (Romans 10:9).
God could have made it difficult for us to obtain salvation by following rules; however, He only requires us to place faith in Him. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — not by works, so that no one can boast.”
Salvation from God is a free gift that is available to all. God wants all people to be saved, not just a select few (1 Timothy 2:4).
What Is the Love We Are to Extend to Others?
Since God is love, we also are to love one another (1 John 4:16; John 13:34). Loving one another needs to become second nature for Christians. The type of love between believers should be that we genuinely care about one another.
Love for others is more than merely “I’ll pray for you.” Sincere love for one another means placing the other person’s interest above your own. Love does not harm its neighbor nor is it jealous of another person.
If we examine ourselves and are honest, we will be better equipped at knowing if we are loving others as we should. Loving others can be hard at times, but it is what we are to do. As we grow in our relationship with Christ, a natural outflow of our faith should be extending love to others.
Paul tells us, “Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves” (Romans 12:10). As we grow in our Christian walk, the fruits of the Holy Spirit will start being produced in our lives (Galatians 5:22-23).
One of the fruits of the Spirit is love. This means that over time, the more we grow in our relationship with Christ, the easier it will be to love one another because it will be almost second nature to us. We will extend love to others because God has extended His love to us.
In the future, God’s love will continue to shine brightly in our lives. When the New Earth and New Heaven are established by God, there will only be happiness, peace, and love. There will be no more pain, crying, or death (Revelation 21:4).
Things will finally be as they were originally supposed to be before the Fall of man. All of this will happen because of God’s great love for us. Throughout our lives, we may come across many people we love in a romantic sense; however, our true love will always be God.
The love God has for us will never waiver or fade away. As we continue through our journey in life, God’s love will continue to pour out into our lives and with the same love God puts into our lives, we can extend it to others.
What Does This Mean?
Love is powerful and it is a game-changer. If we all chose to love as God commands us to, the world would be a much better place. Valentine’s Day is a popular holiday where we extend love to others in the form of gifts, chocolates, and cards.
While these gestures are nice, what would it look like if we radically loved others as Jesus commanded us? Valentine's Day is a holiday known for extending love to others, but what if we made the intentional decision to love each other every day — not just on a man-made holiday?
Extending love can be hard at times, but God urges us to love others just as He loves us. May this upcoming Valentine’s Day remind you of God’s great love that He has for you. Even if you are alone this Valentine’s, God’s great love for you will always remain steadfast and true.
For further reading:
Why Is Love Mentioned in the Bible So Many Times?
How to Love More Than Just on Valentine’s Day
Love from the Garden to the Silver Screen
Why Are We Called to Remain in Christ’s Love?
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