Bethany G. Davis

Love and truth.

“All You Need Is Love.”

“God is love.”

“Love wins.”

I’ve heard so many songs and participated in so many conversations and read so many articles and listened to so many rants about love being the solution to some of the world’s most obvious problems — hate crimes, segregation, genocide, etc.

Seems like a good theory. After all, Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13:13, “So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”

I get it. Love is a really big deal. No argument there.

But the call for love is being made in the context of a society moving toward moral relativism.

If we can’t agree on love’s definition, how can we expect it to spark change?

Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.

(from 1 Corinthians 13, The Message)

Truth is an essential ingredient of love. In order for love to create unity among people, they must agree on what that truth comprises.

If my definition of love isn’t the same as yours, you might not believe that my actions qualify as love. And what good does that do?

I’d argue none.