What is Love?

Philippians 1:9-11

Love, it's a word which is thrown about all over the place nowadays, it seems to have lost its true meaning and value. Perhaps the most profound views of love come from the examples Brad used at the beginning of his message, from the young children. The little things that make up love, the little sacrifices we make for those who love.

In the passage, Paul talks about our love abounding more in knowledge and insight. I've often asked how this can be, how can our love abound more, how can our love grow? I have found that the key to love is to first understand what it is and what it truly means. Many will say love just happens, it's that feeling you get that you love someone, the warmth, the feeling, it just feels right. When I hear the word love I am reminded of William Blake's poem, the clod and the pebble:

Love seeketh not Itself to please,
Nor for itself hath any care;
But for another gives its ease,
And builds a Heaven in Hell's despair.

So sang a little Clod of Clay,
Trodden with the cattle's feet:
But a pebble of the brook,
Warbled out these metres meet.

Love seeketh only Self to please,
To bind another to Its delight:
Joys in another's loss of ease,
And builds a Hell in Heaven's despite.

Here we have two very different views of love, a selfish one and a selfless one. It is true, often we might opt for the latter version, to seek gain for ourselves, to love others to reap the benefits of it. We can see from the poem that the pebble is hard, it is stubborn and does not change itself. whilst the clod is soft, it is forgiving, it is able to change and give things up for love.

For me, I still struggle between the two, but I know that God's love is perfect love. That love is a choice, love is to give something up. When you love, you open up, you become vulnerable. You see, God gave up His life for us, God made himself vulnerable, made His heart vulnerable. "God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. " If we are to learn to love, this is the point where we must begin.

This is love.

~Sck