Love is Both And

This week I am posting on this theme: “Fill in the blank: Love is________.”

Some people would say: Love is a decision.

Others would say: Love is an emotion.

I submit that: Love is both and.

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres (1 Corinthians 13:1-7, NIV).

Love is more than just an action or decision. This counters the popular myth currently going around in Christian circles today that love is not a feeling, it is an action or a decision. God does not equate action with love. Paul goes so far as to say you can give everything you own to the poor and give your life up for another without having love. Jesus says in John 15:13 “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” But you can do it and not have it! You can’t equate love with any kind of action or decision.

More than that, love is described in this chapter as being certain feelings, did you notice that? Love is not jealous, love is slow to anger, love rejoices in the truth, love always hopes. Those are all feelings! Yes love shows itself through our actions and decisions, but love is more than what we do. Jesus accused the Pharisees on this very point—defining love as an action—when He said in Mark 7:6 “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.'” Love is more than just an action or a decision.

Love is more than simply a feeling or an emotion. The predominant view that people have of love today is that love is a feeling only. Some people stay committed to their spouse only as much as their feeling of love makes them want to. Friends, real love is not that simple. Love is a verb. A love that does not result in action is not really love at all, at least not in any biblical sense. As the love of God moved Him to send His Son Jesus to die for our sins so that He could forgive us, our own love seeks expression in action. James says faith without works is dead. He might as well have said love without works is dead. John says in his first letter, “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.” Love is more than simply a feeling or an emotion.

Love is more than an action, it is more than an emotion. Love is both and.