« February 14, 2006 | February 14, 2006 | February 14, 2006 »

Education Ministry

Posted on February 14, 2006 ...

Since this is the month of love, and hopefully you are still basking in the glow of Valentine?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s Day, I thought I would take this opportunity to examine this thing we call love. For a word that gets so much use, its meaning is not always clear. I can say, ?¢‚Ǩ?ìI love popcorn?¢‚Ǩ¬ù and ?¢‚Ǩ?ìI love my wife,?¢‚Ǩ¬ù but they are not the same. Popular music often equates love with sex. Yet the mature person knows that the purest form of love has nothing to do with sex, and sex is not always about love. ?¢‚Ǩ?ìLovers?¢‚Ǩ¬ù in the early days of romantic attraction often confuse infatuation with real love. While infatuation may eventually turn into love, those who have experienced both know they are not the same either. So, what is love ?¢‚Ǩ‚Äú really? The Bible says God is love (note it does not say love is god), and our Lord commanded us to love one another. Of all the people in the world, those who believe and follow Jesus should understand what love is.

It appears to me that love has various degrees, and that we should experience them all. 1) When a very young child says, ?¢‚Ǩ?ìI love you,?¢‚Ǩ¬ù she is simply mimicking the words of her parents. She has no real understanding of the word. But when she sees the response of her parents, she deduces that it must be good. In time, the child will notice that her parents?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢ love for her is demonstrated by their care and provision for her. To a child in this stage of development, love is selfish. The child equates love with a treat or a privilege. That is why a young child may scream, ?¢‚Ǩ?ìI don?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t love you anymore,?¢‚Ǩ¬ù when she does not get her way. 2) Thankfully, time and experience teach the child that love can flow two ways. When young people experience the thrill of mutual love, they learn how love motivates them to do for others; yet it is still somewhat selfish. A boy demonstrates his love for a girl because he is attracted to her and wants her to love him back.

These stages are natural; we all go through them. But real love goes further. 3) In order to move on to maturity, love must become selfless. It is here that Christ becomes our model. He taught and demonstrated the manner in which He expects us to love: ?¢‚Ǩ?ìGreater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends?¢‚Ǩ¬ù (John 15:13). Self-sacrifice is the epitome of love. Now it is unlikely that we will ever actually die for another person. Still, each day presents countless opportunities in which we may die to self in order to love others. This is the essence of real love ?¢‚Ǩ‚Äú to love another with no expectation of love in return.

So these are the degrees of human love: 1) Love for the sake of me. 2) Love for the sake of us. 3) Love for the sake of another. And higher still ?¢‚Ǩ‚Äú 4) Love for the sake of God. May we never grow weary of learning the higher ways of love. ?¢‚Ǩ‚Äú Michael