If you have more than a hundred words to say in a day (like me, for instance) you have likely said, ‘I love ______(fill in the blank)’ many times in many contexts. That expression is used for anything from anchovies to zoology. My suspicion is that the rest of humanity thinks this, too, but never voices it, it would be way too much exposure. All those loved things, however, don’t define love as they are not universal in application. I mean, what if you don’t love anchovies?
If not for the topic of ‘love,’ the history of song would be sorely depleted. There are ‘walking on air,’ ‘spring in your step,’ love tunes as well as ‘achy, breaky heart’ songs, restored or lost love songs, thwarted, unrequited love songs, and poetic odes to love songs. These are in many styles: plainchant, hymnody, opera, country, ballads, blues, rock ‘n’ roll, grunge, emo, and everything in between.
Bookshelves, too, would be emptier without all that has been penned on this intriguing topic. Writing styles are equally varied: dramatic, humorous, erotic, academic, relationship-oriented, etc. A person attempting to define love through these readings would come away confused after working their way through these different approaches, and wondering if anybody, anywhere, really knew what love was.
And here’s the problem. Love isn’t first and foremost a thing we desperately search for, but a person we long to know, and without knowing the Person, it’s impossible to nail down a satisfying definition. And knowing the Person Who is Love begins a long process of transforming, well, everything! His Presence exposes all previous attempts at defining and comparing as futile, initiating instead, a beautiful reworking of us from the inside out. Many of our old definitions look ridiculous or ill-fitting or flat out wrong in light of the real ‘thing.’ (to be clear, the ‘Real Thing’ is not a popular brand of soda, despite all advertising efforts to convince us otherwise!)
The Prophet Jeremiah recorded this message from Love Himself: ‘The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying: I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.’ Jer. 31:3, NIV. It is obvious that both the everlasting love and the loving-kindness are His. Imagine! Creator God speaking these intimate, tender words to His chosen, albeit rebellious, children. With unwavering commitment, he draws them back to Himself!
Love is Eternal. He never changes (Hebrews 13:8), so that means He has the same unwavering commitment, the same everlasting love, the same loving-kindness, toward us, His sometimes-rebellious (often-rebellious?) children. In a Gospel song by Bill Gaither, we find these heartwarming words: ‘The One who knows me best, loves me most!’ Are there facets of this Love we have yet to ‘own,’ yet to be reassured by as we go about our day-to-day lives? Are we still on the journey? I know I am, and I know I receive His love through each of His children. That means you! Thank you! Looking forward to seeing all my fellow journeyers tomorrow 10 AM, 4 PM FR. PD
Don graduated from Regent University in 1988 and moved to France for seven years, coming back to the US briefly to marry Sue in 1990. The work in France included working in a Christian School and helping plant a church before returning in 1995. He’s been pastor of Peninsula Vineyard since 1999. He enjoys counseling, especially married couples, traveling back to France (with Sue), reading, doing Sudoku puzzles and sleuthing out good, dark chocolate. Don serves as the senior pastor of the Vineyard Church Peninsula, in Newport News, Virginia.