Today we hear all sorts of phrases being tossed around but what do they really mean?

• Love comes in all colors.
• You should be able to love whoever you want.
• Love is never wrong.
• Love wins.
• Love always wins.
• Love is love.

These are all phrases being broadcasted and adopted by the LGBTQIA+ community.  For this community the phrases mean that the love expressed by an individual is valid regardless of the sexual orientation or gender identity of their partner.  In addition, these phrases often equate love with having sex. That is, that sex with anyone is ok.  Perhaps people are simply confusing love with lust.  Lust, an intense or unbridled sexual desire.  The reality of it is that many are living out “lust is lust”. 

I would suggest that we can love someone without having sex with them.

There are lots of things people love.

Let’s consider some things people love.  Many people say they “love”: coffee, chocolate, flowers, the beach, the mountains, rain, sunshine, dogs, cats, cookies, ice cream, watching movies, cars, and the list goes. 

Sadly, there are some people who “love”:  lying, stealing, power, corruption, child molestation, pornography, being mean to others, watching others suffer, torturing people, rioting, raping, killing babies in the womb, or killing anyone.  You get the picture.

Therefore, would the phrase “love is love” still be accurate? I think not.

People often refer to the dictionary for clarification.  If you look up “love” in the Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, it offers several definitions based on how it’s used such as:  strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties, attraction based on sexual desire, etc.  The question is, does the dictionary offer what the meaning of “love” really is?  Where can we find the truth on this word?

The real meaning of love

When looking for truth, we need to turn to what God has to say on the matter.  In scripture, we learn that there are four Greek words used for love.

• Romantic (eros) which refers to sexual desire and lust; from eros we get the word erotic.
• Affection (storge) which refers to affection and familiarity, such as family and the people around us in normal day-to-day life. 
• Friendship (philia) which refers to the bonding you have with friends over similar interests.  Christians are to be devoted to one another in brotherly love.
• Agape love which is God’s love that He has for the world.  God’s love is undeserved, gracious, and sacrificial.

Definition of love – often heard at weddings.

“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned,but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. 

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

1 Corinthians 13:1-7

Agape love is from God.

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.  Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” 1 John 4:7-8

Agape love is a sacrificial love.

“Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” John 15:13

Agape love is what Jesus Christ displayed on the cross for us. 

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”  John 3:16

The world will continually throw out many catch phrases and most will be trite and meaningless.  We need to effectively analyze whether we should go along with and “like” these trivial and weightless quotes on social media; consider what it really means.

The Bible says a great deal about God’s love, we just have to pick it up and read it.  It changes the way we love others, both believers and non-believers.  God’s very nature is exponentially greater than an ocean of love.  He has shown us His love by the sacrifice of His Son, what more must He do?  Through our acceptance of God’s love, mercy and grace, knowing that we have fallen short, acknowledging Jesus, our lives will be forever changed. 

Join me in having the hope of heaven; you will be eternally wrapped in God’s love.