What’s love got to do with it?

Remember Tina Turner’s  song “What’s love got to do with it?”   That song was the cry of a generation…

“Oh whats love got to do, got to do with it
What’s love but a second hand emotion
What’s love got to do, got to do with it
Who needs a heart
When a heart can be broken”

We intrinsically long for love, but do we ever find it? We equate physical pleasure to love; we equate acceptance to love; we equate having our needs met to love…but in truth, do the things we think bring us love really do that?

We try to catch the seemingly elusive experience of “love” and are left grasping in the wind; writhing in emotional pain and experiencing the emptiness that a broken relationship brings, as it tears pieces out of our wounded, yes, broken heart.

What is it that we are so hungry for?  What is it that we long for?  …this “Love.”  What is Love?

Definitions of love on the Web:

• a strong positive emotion of regard and affection; “his love for his work”; “children need a lot of love”
• any object of warm affection or devotion; “the theater was her first love”; “he has a passion for cock fighting”;
• have a great affection or liking for; “I love French food”; “She loves her boss and works hard for him”
• beloved: a beloved person; used as terms of endearment
• get pleasure from; “I love cooking”
• a deep feeling of sexual desire and attraction; “their love left them indifferent to their surroundings”; “she was his first love”
• be enamored or in love with; “She loves her husband deeply”
• a score of zero in tennis or squash; “it was 40 love”
• sleep together: have sexual intercourse with; “This student sleeps with everyone in her dorm”; “Adam knew Eve”; “Were you ever intimate with this man?”
• sexual love: sexual activities (often including sexual intercourse) between two people

When looking at these things the song lyrics come up again “what’s love got to do with it, got to do with it?”  Do any of these definitions really explain to us what love is?  Do they satisfy the hungry soul that longs and craves for love?  The answer is – No! 

The evidence of that is the cultural dissatisfaction that we see so rampant among us.  Culturally, we’re starving!  We’re always looking for something else, something new, something better, something to inspire, invigorate and enamor us; something to make us feel alive.  Why?  Because love does that, but we as a culture, haven’t found it – yet!

It was in the summer of 1998 that I memorized 1 Corinthians 13 out of the New Testament Scriptures.  In essence it teaches that without love all spiritual gifts and religious acts are meaningless.  In that light it seems foundationally important to the human soul and human existence. 

In verses 4-7 is a clear model what love looks like. If the Bible is understood to be a book written to humanity from God, then this chapter outlines how God loves us and how He expects us to love each other:  “Love Is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” (1 Cor. 13:4-7)  

If the reader doesn’t believe that God is real, or that the Bible has any importance to play as an instruction manual for life from the Creator of the life, then I challenge the reader to put the principals in play to determine their validity apart from Divine authorship.  Could there be a nugget of truth regarding the real basis of love found in these words vs. our own human definitions? 

Remembering that we come from imperfect childhoods, imperfect parents, imperfect relationships, we must acknowledge that we may have imperfect ideas and notions of what love is.  We’ve been taught from imperfect models. If you think you have all the answers and are living a life filled with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self control, apart from God, please let the world (including me) know your secret! 

 The only way I’ve experienced these things in my own life is through developing a relationship with the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob through Messiah Yeshua/Jesus.  Why?  Because in the Bible in 1 John 4:7 it tells us that that love is from God because God is love.   Believing the Bible to be truth we uncover the true definition of love. 

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” (1 John 4:7-11)

 In this passage we learn that true love is from God and that He wants us to experience that same love and share it. But that doesn’t happen in the typical ways we think it happens.

Through our faith in Messiah’s sacrifice, God’s life (which emanates from His love) lives inside of us.  “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever would believe in Him would have eternal life.” John 3:16

When we think about eternal life we think about it in terms of time. God’s eternal life is not only measured in duration, as life that goes on forever. It is also a quality.  Eternal life has the quality of the best life possible – here and now!  It’s a life filled with love, provision, blessing, satisfaction and contenment. 

To the extent that we receive God’s love for ourselves then we experience the fullness of love and can, in turn, share it with each other. When that happens we experience the joy that comes from the abundant, “quality” life promised in John 10:10.  ”…I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10)

 Just like two people in love spend a lot of time together enjoying the experience of that love, God wants us to take the time to bask in His endless supply of limitless love. He wants us to go higher and deeper. He wants us to be rooted and grounded in love. He wants to impart to us more of who He is through His divine love. (Ephesians 3:17-19)  This happens through learning what the Bible says about love and reflecting upon it in prayer and times of silent worship of God, with the goal of simply receiving His love. As we make room in our hearts and minds for God, and for more of His love, vital foundations will be built up that enable us to experience the love we’ve been longing for.  Once we experience it for ourselves we’ll be able to share it with others.

As a result, we’ll see ourselves being obedient to the two important commandments found in Scripture;  to love God and to love one another (Matthew 22:36-40.)

We’ll also see God work fantastic miracles in and through our lives and we’ll get a taste of eternal joy in our lives on earth now.  

We’ll see that in fact, Love has everything to do with it! 

Love is why we have life!  Love is why we live!  Love is our purpose on earth for such a time as this!  But the most fulfilling love we can know doesn’t come from another person.  It comes from our Creator, God.  God’s love is so awesome and multi faceted. As we come to know His love, not only are our insecurities and wrong attitudes melted away, but we’re drawn into the beauty of God’s other attributes. His awesome holiness, wisdom, goodness and perfection are all found within His love. None of God’s attributes can be separated from each other. In light of this truth, when we walk in God’s love, with reverential fear and thanksgiving, our lives take on an eternal quality right now and  are certain to mirror the life of Messiah.

 Father God, I pray that as people read this, their hearts and minds are flooded with the truth of Your magnificent love for them. Help them receive more of Your love and in turn be holy vessels who carry that love into the lives of the people around them. Teach them, by Your Holy Spirit, how to best share Your love. Do this Lord so that greater blessings fall on their lives and so that You receive greater glory. It’s in Yeshua’s precious and holy name that I pray.