What Is Love?

1 Corinthians 13:13  -  And now these three remain:  faith, hope and love.  But the greatest of these is love.

A teacher of the law asked Jesus, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”  “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’  The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  There is no commandment greater than these.”  Mark 12:29-31

As we think about the idea of love, many differing thoughts enter our minds.  So what did Jesus mean when he said the word love?  The Greek word “agape” is the one that is used and was used by believers to talk about the special unconditional love of God.  This unconditional love is what Jesus is telling us we should have for God and for each other.  This is a love that looks toward all things holy and turns away from the world and the pride of life.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 gives an excellent explanation of the kind of love that Jesus was talking about.  “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.”

As believers living a life of repentance this means always putting God, Jesus, family, friends and neighbors before ourselves.  As human beings there will be times when we fail, no matter how hard we try.  Once again, this should remind us that we should always be thanking God for His gift of Jesus, and the gift of salvation that we were given when Jesus suffered, died, and rose again.