Pop culture, romance novels, Hollywood flair, and story-book endings have greatly skewed the meaning of love.  We have reduced it to an emotional feeling, a shallow appeal of the senses.  Do not get me wrong, love certainly is emotional, and it does appeal to our senses, but when it is only that, it becomes nothing more than a fleeting mood, a fluctuating state of mind.

     God places a high premium on love, and has a different definition from that of the world.  God is love; therefore, it is of the highest and holiest pursuit.  As a matter of fact, in the company of faith and hope, it holds the greatest title.  True love is more than a sappy feeling you experience at the end of a tear-jerking movie.  Love is sacrifice in action, a verb; it is pure, unadulterated giving.  It courageously and convincingly lends itself without any need of reciprocation.  And I believe we use and abuse its meaning inappropriately.

     We cannot say we love curtains, cars, or cats and mean the same thing to describe our relationship with God or others.  In doing so, we devalue its meaning and reduce its significance. As Mel Lawrenz contends, “Don’t think of love as frilly sentiment or adolescent infatuation.  Love is the gutsiest and boldest of human initiatives.” It is the fulfillment of the law.