God is Love
“What is love? Baby don’t hurt me.” –Haddaway
“Hello. I love you. Won’t you tell me your name?” –The Doors
“Sometimes I feel I’ve got to run away” –Softcell
“She wants to see you again … see you slowly twisting in the wind.” –They Might Be Giants
Our music gives us a pretty screwed up image of what love is. Is it an emotion? Is it something you feel in response to an emotion? Is it a noun or a verb? Is it something you choose, or something you accidentally fall into? What’s the difference between love and romance? Ask the question “What is love?” and you’ll get as many answers as people you ask. One thing we do agree on though. Whatever it is, we all want it and lots of people will go to extreme lengths for it.
Most people confuse love with infatuation. Infatuation is that ooey-gooey feeling you get that feels like you swallowed warm hot chocolate on a cold winter day. It’s emotional and it produces a physical response that makes you feel good. It’s tricky. It’s possessive, obsessive, and unfortunately, it’s also self-centered. The objective of infatuation is to make you feel good. It may obsess on another person, but it really has selfish “I want” motives that focus on your own feelings.
True love, on the other hand is others-oriented. It is always focused on another person’s well-being. When you truly love, you care more about the other person than even yourself. You are willing to go to extreme lengths to make sure they stay safe and healthy. Their long-term well being is your goal and you will sacrifice your own well-being to make sure theirs is protected.
God is love. Not the love between a man and woman. Not the love between two brothers or close friends. God is an unconditional, proactive, unrelenting love without end or limits or boundaries and He’s focused that love on YOU.
That desire that everyone has for love is a built-in longing for the Creator. They chase infatuation, but what they really yearn for is true Love. You may have left a “significant other” at home. You may have brought them with you. This week, I encourage you to chase after true Love. Chase after God. He is the Love you’re craving.
1 John 4:7-10 (Msg)
My beloved friends, let us continue to love each other since love comes from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and experiences a relationship with God. The person who refuses to love doesn't know the first thing about God, because God is love—so you can't know him if you don't love. This is how God showed his love for us: God sent his only Son into the world so we might live through him. This is the kind of love we are talking about—not that we once upon a time loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to clear away our sins and the damage they've done to our relationship with God.
1 John 4:15-17 (Msg)
Everyone who confesses that Jesus is God's Son participates continuously in an intimate relationship with God. We know it so well, we've embraced it heart and soul, this love that comes from God. God is love. When we take up permanent residence in a life of love, we live in God and God lives in us. This way, love has the run of the house, becomes at home and mature in us, so that we're free of worry on Judgment Day—our standing in the world is identical with Christ's.
John 15:13 (NIV)
Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.
Challenge: During your free time today, take a poll from youth at other cabins. Have them define “love.” It’s a great conversation starter.
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