What is Love?

Good day. Today we are posting the newsletter What is Love? written in 1995 by our dear brother, fellow steward and ambassador of the mystery of Christ, Larry Gazelka, Our prayer is that you will be blessed and encouraged by this newsletter. Have a very blessed and prosperous day in Christ Jesus our Lord. ***You can download a copy of the writing for personal use only by clicking on the Built Anew Ministries Archive page link above and scroll down to the year 1995.

What Is Love?     V17n19

So often I think out loud, and ask my self, "what is love"?  In the vernacular of the world, there are many definitions.  We all have our own interpretations of what it means to us.  But, have you ever really stopped to hear what the Bible has to say about love?

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (KJV)

John 15:12-13 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. (KJV)

Let's take a look at what the Merriam-Webster dictionary says that love is.

Love = storing affection; warm attachment; attraction based on sexual desire; a beloved person; a score of zero in tennis; cherish; to feel a passion, devotion, or tenderness for; caress; to take pleasure in.

The dictionary gives us all kinds of definitions of the word, but none that compliments the Bible, and what Jesus Christ had to say about "love".

John 13:34-35 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.  By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. (KJV)

We think of the sexual attractions, the caresses, and most of the desires that relate only to the physical nature.

How do we comprehend the love of God, who sent His only begotten Son, to be put to death by those who He loved?  Or, the fact that Jesus Christ himself, in knowing that He himself would suffer greatly, measured love by total commitment, even unto death?

How great is your love for the Word of God?

"And brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father of the child; and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death.  And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake, but he that endureth to the end shall be saved."  Matt. 10:21-22 KJV

Have any of us really suffered for the Word of God?  Have we had to endure anything that would really test our love for God?

With all the turmoil and such in the world today, we have an excuse for anything that may go wrong.  We tell people that we fell out of love with our partner, so we have to find someone else.

Love = a partnership based on total trust and respect.

I totally trust God's Word.  I respect everything that He did for me.  If that love were to diminish, it would have to be my fault, because God has done everything possible for me to share His love, now and forever.  The only way that love can diminish is if I do not take the time to love Him back.  This I do, by the time I spend in the Word with Him, by constantly reminding myself (with His Word) of all that He has done for me.  It is only if I quit loving Him back, that our relationship will diminish.  This is why in the world so many marriages are failing.  They no longer put any effort into their relationship.  Besides, it is always easier to blame someone else for the problems, rather than to look in the mirror.

"As I have loved you, that ye also love one another."  John 13:34 KJV

If we truly hear what the Lord is saying in this verse, we would not be constantly pointing the finger at everyone else all the time.  We have to measure our love, by the same measure that Jesus Christ showed to and for us.

1 Cor 13:4-8 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophesies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. (KJV)

What we see in these verses, is a description of the life of Jesus Christ while He was here on earth.  His total commitment to doing the will of the Father.  It is easy to say that we will do the same things for those that we love, but, what about those who are enemies?  What about those who you dislike or what about those who do not think quite the same way that you do?  Could you lay down your life for them?

What we fail to remember, is that while we were yet enemies of the cross, is when Jesus Christ died for us.  We were not yet part of the family.  Can you imagine laying down your life for someone who hated you?  Dying for some one who is only interested in what they can obtain from you, without commitment?  Aren't we the same for the most part?

Rom 5:1-8 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.  And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.  For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.  For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.  But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (KJV)

The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts, the moment that we confess with our mouth, and believe in our hearts that Jesus Christ took my place on the cross and in the grave.

What we forget, is that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.  It is something that I have to train myself to do, each and every day of my life.  Just as I do my physical body.  (When your stomach screams for food, do you neglect it?)  We do everything in our power to satisfy the needs and lusts that are body desires.  Yet, how often do we attend to the needs of our spirit man?

This is where the love of God is so important, in each and every day of our life.  Just as we train ourself for every day life in the physical world, we have to train our spirit man in the way that it should go, according to the Word of God.  "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth," II Tim. 2:15 KJV.

If you do not know His Word, how can you please Him?  If you are not willing to please Him, how can you say that you love Him?  If you love Him, you will keep His commandments.

In our marriages, they suffer if we do not take the time, and make an effort at them.  We forget to do the things that please them. We become too involved with the things that satisfy self.  We stop doing things together.  We stop sharing moments.

The same thing happens with our life, when we neglect our love of God.  When we neglect the Word, our love for God has to diminish.  Why?  Because we do not continue to remind oneself of the things that Father has already done for us.  And faith can only develop by hearing God’s Word. We forget the purpose that brought us together.

"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are called according to His purpose."  Romans 8:28 KJV

It is easy to have our own purpose for serving God; but when we totally surrender to His love, then we will be open to His purpose.

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That you may know Him.
In the service of Jesus Christ,
Larry Gazelka