What is Love?

(No relation to "Night At the Roxbury"...I in no way endorse that movie. But this is a clip that will make you understand my correlation between the two: Night at the Roxbury )

So here's what I've been thinking about since...March. Yep, March. The book I just read solidified the idea in my mind. (Ask me if you want to know what it was. It was kindof girly though.) I'm just gonna jump right into the thought.

What IS love? Like, for real. This is the dictionary response:
Love [luhv] noun, verb:
a. a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person.
b. a feeling of warm person attachment or deep affection as for parent, child or friend.
c. sexual passion or desire
d. strong enthusiasm or liking for something
e. benevolent affection of God and His creatures or the reverent affection due to Him from them.

THIS is the Bible definition:
1 Corinthians 13-The Love Chapter

1 If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. 2If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing. 3-7If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love.

Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.
Love doesn't strut,
Doesn't have a swelled head,
Doesn't force itself on others,
Isn't always "me first,"
Doesn't fly off the handle,
Doesn't keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn't revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.

8-10Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled.

11When I was an infant at my mother's breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good.

12We don't yet see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We'll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!

13But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.

Now, tell me. Where in the WORLD does it say anything about love being a feeling in the Bible?? I'm fairly certain God knows what He's talking about. Let's dissect this, okay?

Love is NOT: sexual desire, a strong enthusiasm, passion, tenderness, or warm personal attachment to anyone. Those all have their places in life, and are not bad things(at the right time *cough* sexual desire *cough*). But here's what we do. We compartmentalize love. When I say "compartmentalize", I mean we separate it. We put our Love for God in one cubicle, Love for Family in another, Love for Friends in another, etc.

Why is this a big deal? Because it's all the same love. Love's definition doesn't change based on the person it's describing. Loving your family is the same as loving a hobo. (It's not like that in reality, I realize, but God says that that's how it's supposed to be.) Let me explain a little better.

Think about someone you love (God, your family, a friend, or even the DELUSION of a crush. [Yes. It is a delusion. Ü I say it because I've experienced it.]). Now think about the definition of love. Do your actions match the "feeling" that you have for them?

I can truly say that I love God. I love my family. I love my friends. They mean a lot to me. We're all familiar with John 15:13. ((Greater love hath no man than this: That he would lay down his life for his friends.)) Now add John 15:13 to 1 Corinthians 13. Now think about who you love.

This is the SAME LOVE that we should have for hobos, meanyheads and annoying people. It's NOT easy guys. Jesus never said that it would be. But He did it. So that means *drum roll* WE SHOULD TOO. No matter how hard it is. That brings me to my next point.

We need to prioritize love before we can ever stop compartmentalizing it. When I say "prioritize", I mean that our love for God needs to be first. Your "love" for other people will not matter unless you love God first. I say that because it's true. You won't understand love until you've experienced God's love.

Love is not butterflies. Butterflies are AWESOME, you guys. But they do not equal love. You will have them as a side effect of love, that's normal. God made us that way. But just cuz you get butterflies does not mean you're "in love". Justin Lookadoo is a really good Christian author, and I recommend his books to you guys. He said, "I love my wife...Sometimes we get into fights and go to bed upset with the other. We don't wake up in the morning and have butterflies...She turns over and thinks, "Oh. Bummer. He's still breathing."" Love endures all things. And that means ALL things.

This is what it comes down to: When earnestly love God first. Before ANYTHING and ANYONE, His love bounces off of your pretty little (or handsome, manly) self and it shows EVERYONE. That keeps your love a whole, not a little office of cubicles of love.

Okay, now everyone comment. No excuses. I want to see your thoughts! Ü

Rina