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What does love mean in our society today? Affection,
emotion, family, feelings, romance, relationships, sex, friendship,
brotherhood. These are all words associated with love. Love songs, romance
novels and chick flicks are always trying to tack on another definition. If you
look it up on Wikipedia or dictionary.com you’ll get a variety of explanations.
If you google it, you get “The Love Calculator,” where you type in your name
and someone else’s and receive a prophecy about the likelihood of your future
together being a good one. You get all kinds of pictures of hearts and couples
kissing.

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But the problem with all these characterizations is they all
fall short and eventually disappoint. They’re temporary, they’re flawed,
they’re substitutions. They’re selfish. They rely on human power, which will
always come to an end.

Take a look at the Bible’s definition of love. Romans 8 says
that nothing can ever separate us from the love of God. First Corinthians 13 says that love never
gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every
circumstance. Ephesians 3 says that the
love of Christ is so great you will never fully understand it. Second Corinthians 9 calls it an indescribable
gift.

Does any of this sound like the world’s definition of love?
The love that is tied to image and worth and selfish desires? Absolutely not. The
greatest lie we are led to believe is that we can find love outside of Jesus
Christ. His love isn’t human. It’s
unfathomable. The apostle Paul, who was extremely well educated and eloquent,
couldn’t even articulate the idea of God’s love. He calls it indescribable.
Beyond words.

The hardest thing to comprehend about this love, the reason
it is so inexpressible and beyond human terminology, is that it is undeserved.
God loves us for no reason at all. The whole idea of Christianity is just that
you accept this love. Embrace it. Realize that it is a gift, you did nothing to
earn it, you could do nothing to make it go away, you could never be worthy
enough to receive it, but all the same it is there. You couldn’t be separated
from God’s love even if you tried.  First John 4 tells us that God is love. It is his very nature and he could never stop being
who he is. 

Move beyond the charade that society has nicknamed love, and
acknowledge that there is a greater love in God. It’s the original; everything
else pale’s in comparison.

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