If That Aint Love, Then I Don't Know What Love Is!

Recently, the topic of love has been on my mind a lot.  It has nothing to do with Valentine's Day, as I didn't even realize it was coming up until today (I guess I've been completely oblivious to the decorations and abundance of stuffed animals and chocolate in Wal Mart).  To be honest, I'm not sure why love has been on my mind so much.  I guess it just seems like so many of us spend our whole lives pursuing what we think love is, trying to acquire it or trying to achieve it.  I've gotten pretty good at recognizing when something or someone is not loving, and I certainly don't want to act in those ways.  But how does one who is loving act?  What does love really look like?  Will I know it when I see it?  How can I love others, even when I don't think they deserve it?  What kind of love does God ask for?  What kind of love does He give?

In Matthew 22:37-39, Jesus tells us what the greatest commandments are.  1 - Love God.  2 - Love others.  That's pretty much what it's all about.  Love is the answer.  It's why we're here, and it's what we're supposed to do.  So if Jesus thought it was that important, then maybe we should give more than a quick glance to love as well.  In my NAS Bible, "lov" occurs 661 times (that take into account loving, loved, loves, lover, lovingkindness, etc.), and in the NIV, it occurs 707 times.  If the Bible speaks so much about love then, again, I definitely think it's something that is worth being studied.

We all have our own ideas about love.  Some of them may be accurate, but many of our ideas are shaded by our experiences.  Our hurts, along with the shortcomings of ourselves and others, clouds our minds and can often lead us to misinterpretations of the word.  Plus, I also think it's tragic how much the word "love" gets overused.  We love everything from our dogs, to Italian food to God.  How in the world can we use the same word for everything?  Stupid English language.

So in review, love is probably the most important aspect of our lives, and also one of the most misunderstood words/topics.  Is there any wonder so many people are so messed up?  I've decided to dig deeper into love and learn what God has to say about it.  I'm starting a new study where I plan to read every passage that contains "lov" and see what each of them can tell me about love.  I hope that through this, God will begin to show me how He loves and how I can love in return.  I may post some of my findings from time to time.  I encourage you to look at and pray about how truly understanding love can change your life.