about love

the following are some of my loosely structured thoughts in regards to what love is. they are thoughts, ideas, recorded for myself and others to ponder and reflect on. some is concrete for me, other things are not but are forming. may you feel free to read, ponder, reflect on love.

To say we love without any action to signify it, is just empty words. Much as James tells us faith without deeds is dead. We have taken something precious and pure, and have twisted, warped and stripped it down to nothing but perversion, emotion, and simply just a word. Empty. But what is love? This is the question I hear asked often. Not in so many words, until recently. What does it mean to love, what is it? Such a simple word when we look at it, but I believe it holds a great deal of meaning. There is great power in love, if only we embrace it, except it. It is meant to be pure, for that is how it was demonstrated. So what is it?

I think…no, I believe, love is more than a word. And even I fail at treating it as such, saying things like “I love hoodies”. But to love is to sacrifice. More than this, it is to do so selflessly, not expecting anything in return. It is not selfish. I would not sacrifice myself for my hoodie, no matter how much I may say I love it.

It is pure, as demonstrated for us by Christ.

I believe it is tied to emotion, but it is not purely emotion. It is emotion driven action, much like other things in our lives. To love is to care so deeply for or about someone or something that you give of yourself expecting nothing in return. I love the DC Talk song, Love Is A Verb. I love it because it drives this point home, that to love is to act. It is not just a word or emotion, but action.

Love is like faith. Show me your faith by what you do. And in the same way, show me your love by what you do. Jesus tells us that the man who losses his life will find it. To love, I truly believe is to give of yourself sacrificially for another selflessly. Could this be an idea Jesus was alluding to when He spoke those words?