What is Love?

And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love. (1st Corinthians 13:13)

We talk a lot about love. Why is love so hard to keep up? Aren't we humans basically good. We are created in the image of God and God is love. We ought to be able to love one another naturally. So what's the problem? Why is love so hard?

People are wonderful, filled with amazing capacity for love, altruism, bravery, compassion and honor. People are also animalistic, following the urges of the body. Fear drives the body. Hunger and thirst drive the body. Stress drives the body. Lust drives the body, an impulse to mate. Other motivations beyond fear include greed, self-protection, anger and sadness. Are we victims of our own flesh? Are we foolish to try and bridle our bodily urges? 

And what about the heart, the center of our being? Some say, "The heart wants what the heart wants," as if that gives us a pass to do whatever our heart desires. They say, "Follow your heart and you can't go wrong." Really?

The heart is devious above all else;
it is perverse—
who can understand it? (Jeremiah 17:9)

The apostle Paul describes our human condition. We know what's right, but don't seem to have the power to do it.

I am of the flesh, sold into slavery under sin. I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. But in fact it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me.

So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? (Romans 7:14-24)

Classic Christian theology maintains that we are corrupted by sin from birth and we cannot change our condition. We are enslaved by the infestation of that which causes us to rebel against our higher selves. We are not able to free ourselves. we are not able to consistently love others. There's always strings attached to our need for self-protection and self-aggrandizement. We often devalue ourselves so we don't live up to our potential, or we overcompensate for our insecurities by over-blowing our importance. 

This is why we need salvation. This is why we need a Savior. If we are to love as God loves, our hearts need to be set free. That is what God does for those who trust in Christ. The heart is set free from sin through forgiveness and the heart is filled with grace, a power greater than sin. The death of Christ on the cross is His victory over sin. His victory is ours, too. Since Christ defeated sin in His perfection and His death, sin is conquered by God for us all. The resurrection of Christ is victory over death. That same power is at work in us who trust in Christ. (See Ephesians 1:19-20)

Paul asked who will save him from his body of death. Here's his answer.

Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! (Rom 7:25) God gave us victory...freedom. Through the presence of the Holy Spirit, God's love empowers us to resist sin's influence, for grace is greater than sin. With our hearts set free through forgiveness, our task is to grow in grace, to mature in love so that we become like Jesus.

If we are to transform the world through love, we are to be continually transformed by love. 

I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect. For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think... (Romans 12:1-3)

Love is hard work, but it is God who is at work in us. So love God and let His love grow your capacity to love.