What is love anyway?

 

Prior to becoming a Christian I really wasn’t sure how to define ‘love’. I knew it wasn’t ‘sex’, although I believed ‘sex’ to be a pleasant byproduct of ‘love’. I wasn’t told about the ‘birds and the bees’ by either of my parents.  I was left to figure it out for myself.  This produced many awkward encounters with girls while in college.  Guys like to speak of their ‘conquests’ when they are together.  Girls like to talk about how ‘hot’ this or that guy is.  It doesn’t appear to be any different today from when I was a teenager, which was some 55 years ago.  Except now ‘sex’ is in your face pretty much everywhere you turn.

The devil has dumbed down society, anesthetizing people as to what is right & what is wrong.  Those that live for themselves find that ‘anything goes’ works just fine for them.  Those who attempt to follow a certain moral and ethical standard of living, such as the Bible, are ridiculed; the notion being that we are robbing ourselves of untold pleasures by doing so.  

We all need some sort of standard to follow, something that guides and advise us when we don’t know what to say or do.  Many ascribe to the idea “if it feels good do it”.   This is selfish at its core and will only feed a person’s desires for so long until certain sameness creeps into it and they become hungry for something more.   Unbridled emotions when left unchecked will lead you to places you never intended to go.  By the time you’ve realized what you’ve done, the consequences of your words and actions may have already buried you. 

It doesn’t have to be that way.  God never intended it to be.  Once we come to the realization that surrender isn’t always a bad thing, we can finally begin to live.  Without God we are only going through the motions.  With God we have the opportunity to be all God intended us to be in the first place.  When we surrender to the will of God, there is no telling what we can accomplish in His name.

Love is much deeper than just having deep affection for someone. We can love ice cream, but it isn’t the same type of love that is involved in loving God or someone of the opposite gender. Until next time, walk with the King & be a blessing.

In His Name & for His Glory,

RL Keller

Bread of Life Ministries