What is Love - A simple answer to this age-old question
What is love? That question can be answered in many ways. There are different ways of loving—between husband and wife, boyfriend and girlfriend, mother and child, child and parent, friend to friend. It’s more than emotions and feelings and sometimes can seem indescribable. But what is love, and where was the first evidence of it?
The questions “What is love?” can be answered by simply opening the bible and reading about God’s view of it. It’s described in great detail, especially in the book of I Corinthians, Chapter 13. You may recognize this passage as it’s used in a lot of weddings. Society today has taken God’s view of sex, intimacy, and loving relationships and changed it into just emotions and feelings. It’s much deeper than that. God loves us in such a great and powerful way and he teaches us how we should be loving others. It’s described as patient, kind, it does not envy, it does not boast, it’s not rude, it’s not self-seeking, it does not anger easily, it does not keep any record of wrongs. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. It never fails.
I think this passage gives us a great answer to the question “What is love?” God describes fully how he wants our loving relationships—every type of relationship—to be like. You will notice that it focuses on the other person not on yourself, and that’s where the problem lies. We often are thinking of us, and how we feel, how we’re hurting, and our needs. If we think of the other people in our lives, our relationship with them, and the things that they need, that’s truly loving another person and can be the beginning to understanding “what is love?”.
To figure out “What is love?” and to begin experiencing our relationships the way God wishes for us, we must first accept how God feels about us. He created us, He knows us, and He cares deeply for us. John 3:16 states “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, and whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” That was the greatest gift ever given to mankind and it was given through God’s deep and abiding adoration for us and truly answers the question “what is love?”.
God’s view of relationships and how we should treat others differs from society’s view. Society tells us it’s all about us. Begin loving others by taking the focus off of yourself and placing it on God. God can teach us about all we need to get through this life and to answer the question “What is love?”. If you are struggling to answer “what is love?” open a Bible and begin to read about God. He simply supplies all the answers.