“What is Love?”

To ask different people “What is love” may produce as many different answers. The dictionary gives this definition of love: “an intense feeling of deep affection.” And then it further defines affection as ”a gentle feeling of fondness or liking.” 

But what does the Bible say about love? The Bible explains love this way: “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” (1 Corinthians 13:4-8 NKJV).                            

This is the greatest explanation of love because it is a biblical explanation and references human behavior. The first three verses of the text points out that even if a person could speak in all languages, or likewise have prophetic powers or understand all mysteries, or gave away all he had, and delivered his body to be burned; and yet if love was not the motivation, then everything would be pointless.

First of all, the Scripture says love suffers long and is kind. To be patient and kind can be a test of our natural feelings towards others. How do we react when patience and kindness are required, and we are not in a mood to deliver?

William MacDonald makes an insightful commentary on our text: “First of all, love suffers long and is kind. Long suffering is patient endurance under provocation. Kindness is active goodness going forth in the interests of others. Love does not envy others; rather it is pleased that others should be honored and exalted. Love does not parade itself, is not puffed up. It realizes that whatever it has is the gift of God, and that there is nothing in man of which to be proud.

“Love does not behave rudely. If a person is truly acting in love, he will be courteous and considerate. Love does not selfishly seek its own, but is interested in what will assist others. Love is not provoked, but is willing to endure slights and insults. Love thinks no evil, that is, it does not attribute bad motives to others. It does not suspect their actions. It is guileless.

“Love does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth. There is a certain mean streak in human behavior which takes pleasure in what is unrighteous, especially if an unrighteous act seems to benefit one’s self. This is not the spirit of love. Love rejoices with every triumph of the truth.

 “The expression bears all things may mean that love patiently endures all things, or that it hides or conceals the faults of others. The word bears may also be translated “covers.”

“Love believes all things, that is, it tries to put the best possible construction on actions and events. Love hopes all things in the sense that it earnestly desires that all things work out for the best. Love endures all things in the way of persecution or ill treatment.

“Love never fails. Throughout eternity, love will go on in the sense that we will still love the Lord and love one another” (Believer’s Bible Commentary, Thomas Nelson Publishers, pgs. 1795, 1796).

The Bible tells us “So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him” (1 John 4:16). Love is an attribute of God.

The Bible says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). 

Because God is love, He was able to provide salvation for us in the Person of His Son, Jesus Christ and in His death on the Cross.

The Bible also says, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us” (Ephesians 2:4). And God’s love is great because He is the source. Love that’s so high, we cannot get over it; so wide, we cannot get around it; so low, we cannot get under it.

The Bible also says that God loved us “even when we were dead in our trespasses” (Ephesians 2:5). This tells us that we did not deserve God’s love because of our unlovable, sinful and wretched condition. It must be clearly understood that our sinful condition could only be changed by God’s intervention. 

We get a glimpse into the extent of God’s love in the continuation of Ephesians 2:5: God “has made us alive together with Christ.” “When He was made alive, raised and seated in the heavenlies, so were we. All the benefits of His sacrificial work are enjoyed by us because of our link with Him” (William MacDonald).