A WOMAN’S PERSPECTIVE

What is Love?

There is a song by Kirk Franklin that I often sing. The song is simply titled "Love". What resonates with me the most is this one particular verse. It says, “Love a word that comes and goes. But few people really know what it means to really love somebody. Love though the tears may fade away I'm so glad your love will stay 'Cause I love You and You show me Jesus what it really means to love”.

God has given us a blueprint on how to love, and it is laid out in His Word. Matthew 22:36-40 is our instruction manual.

““Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.””

The beauty of the blueprint is that it isn't just given to us to read and try to figure out how to implement it on our own. Our loving Father takes it a step further and actually SHOWS us how to love by example. 1 Corinthians 13:1-8 (NKJV) says: “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.

Rhoda

TURNER

And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.” This Scripture tells us what love is and what we should be willing to do for love's sake." Love is defined as “an intense feeling of deep affection”. Love is also a verb; it shows action. God showed us His love in action with the giving of His son; where He (Jesus) chose to show His love by willingly dying on the cross for our benefit. His love action was to give us life eternally. He showed us a love that is patient and kind. I pose this question to you: what are you willing to allow to die, to leave alone, let go of, or give away for love's sake? When I married my husband, I didn’t know much about being a wife. I had seen other wives, and had gotten advice and stories from other wives, but I didn't have firsthand knowledge or experience. All that I knew was that I loved him, and that I was willing to make him happy, even if it caused me some unhappiness. It took me to understand what love is and is not to understand that I didn’t need to be something that I was not because of love. He loved me in spite of my flaws and my inadequacies. Because of love, he was willing to suffer for a long time while I learned how to clean and cook and what it means to be a wife in the context of our relationship. Let me pause here to say that cleaning and cooking is not what defines a wife or is the "job" of the wife. Each marriage must define roles and responsibilities that work for them. For my marriage, I wanted to cook and clean. I wanted to fill that role for my house. And vice versa, because of love I was willing to suffer long while he learned what it meant to be a husband and to assume the responsibilities that that role would look like for us. You see, love is an action; it is something that gives even if you get nothing in return. We love in spite of a response. I encourage you to take inventory of how you love, what it looks like in action. Pastor Rhoda Turner Christian Faith Fellowship Church Chandler, AZ www.cffaz.org