Love One Another – Easier Said Than Done
Read 1 John 4:7-12
Love. We think about it and talk about it a lot. We all need it. But how many folks know what it really is?
One of the curious things about the English language is how one word can have so many different meanings. This is particularly true of “love.” We love our wives or girlfriends. We love our children. We love our dogs. We love our favorite sports teams. We love our cars. We love particular seasons of the year. We love certain kinds of music. We love different kinds of food.
Getting the picture? We can love many things, but the love we have for them isn’t the same. Would you say you love your wife the same way you love a pepperoni pizza?
In our society, nowhere is “love” depicted more than in music and entertainment media. Hallmark has developed a whole film industry around the quest for love: A “meet cute” encounter, initial disinterest or animosity, warming up to liking and admiration, a sudden conflict that threatens to destroy the relationship, and then reconciliation, sealed with a kiss. All in the span of about a week.
And don’t get me started on “The Bachelor” and “The Bachelorette.” Carnal lust disguised as “love.”
If you were to do a search for songs about love, you could spend an entire day. The Beatles told us, “She Loves You” and “All You Need Is Love” – after all, “love is all you need.” There was the campy “Love Shack” by the B-52’s. Elvis Presley sang he “Can’t Help Falling in Love.” Whitney Houston promised, “I Will Always Love You.”
A 1955 classic film told everyone, “Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing,” but in the film “Urban Cowboy,” singer Johnny Lee warned against “Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places.” After leaving The Beatles, Paul McCartney still couldn’t get away from love, singing with his group Wings, “My Love” and “Silly Love Songs.” The rock group Foreigner honestly sang, “I Want to Know What Love Is.”
There’s the problem. Too many folks in our world don’t know what love is. They mistake it for infatuation or lust, fuzzy feelings and consuming emotion. The ancient Greeks, on the other hand, didn’t limit themselves with one word. They had a number of different ways for expressing love, including “eros” (romantic or sexual love); “storge” (familial affection); “philia” (friendship love); and “agape” (sacrificial, selfless, unconditional love).
The Bible speaks a lot about love, but it’s not the cuddly, fond pats on the head, ‘makes me feel warm all over’ kind of love. Most often is the agape form of love, which requires putting the interests of others ahead of our own. When Jesus went to the cross, it wasn’t because He needed a hug. He was literally carrying out His declaration, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13).
The apostle Paul referred to this when he wrote, “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this way: That while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
Most of us are familiar with 1 Corinthians 13:4-7. We’ve heard it recited during wedding ceremonies, maybe our own. But it’s not about romantic love – it’s about the agape form of love necessary for building a successful marriage: “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices in the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”
If you’re wanting to find a formula for a lasting, thriving marriage, there it is. It’s not easy, but it’s almost impossible for a marriage to fail if both husband and wife follow those guidelines.
Biblical agape love goes beyond marriage and family, however. It also applies to our relationships with other believers. The apostle John wrote about this a lot, both in the Gospel of John and his epistles, especially 1 John.
During His three years with His disciples, Jesus had taught them, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35). The apostle reiterated this with the admonition, “Dear friends, since God loved us in this way, we also must love one another” (1 John 4:11). This also can be difficult at times, but it’s a command we can obey – through the power of His Spirit.
There’s another reason for striving to live out and demonstrate the kind of love described in the Scriptures. It reveals God in a manner nothing else can. As John wrote, “No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us” (1 John 4:12).
Today, many people continue to be “looking for love in all the wrong places,” as the old song observed. But through God’s love for us, our love for Him, and the love we demonstrate in our homes and to everyone around us, we can point people to the right place to look for love.