What is Love ?

What is Love ?

No seriously – what is love? We all know how God’s Word describes it in 1 Corinthians 13 – but how does that all relate to real life. I mean to say – the Biblical picture of love is surely the ideal. Or is it supposed to be the norm?

Well, let me give you my view of it all. I am 67 years old and part of a travelling ministry team that has made around 35 trips to various parts of Europe this year alone. I was widowed 31/2 years ago only to find myself falling head over heels in love again and before getting married again just three weeks ago. OK, on some things I will be a bit biased, but in many ways this has been a journey of incredible surprises too, so let me tell you a little bit about the journey.

I have discovered that there is a serious richness in love that I never before realised and that has really made me reconsider my opinions about what we might call “Senior Love”. Everybody expects young people to meet, fall in love, get married and raise a family – that’s the church’s version of 1 Corinthians 13 put into the context of our lives. Meet, love, marriage, family – live happily ever after. If only . . . . But what about older people?

Older people have what we all know as ‘life experience’, especially if they have been married before. So, many older folk don’t set too many high targets. Smaller but achievable or more realistic targets or expectations is what you get from us. I expected that my new wife would come with certain baggage, not thinking for an instant that I would be the one with all the baggage. So it was in this context that I realised that something (I/me) had to change and it was in this area that I discovered a new incredibly deep richness to God’s love for us and in us. I fell in love all over again – twice. Once before the wedding and once after the wedding. However, with the second fall came a realisation of the full depth of my true feelings and, perhaps even more importantly, of my wife’s feelings for me. It was an overwhelming flood of love that swept over me every time we hugged and held each other. (You need to understand here that we are two tactile people so this tends to happen quite a lot so there are a lot of loving feelings flying around us.)

Do older people really hug and cuddle a lot? Oh you’d better believe it. We haven’t got as much time left as some of you youngsters and, anyway, why shouldn’t we? We hug the Grandkids; we hug you, our own kids, so why would we not hug and cuddle each other? It’s all about love. You hug those you love. I recently hugged my son and his wife when they announced another baby on the way. I hug people at church when I greet them. We hug complete strangers during public ministry – mostly because they NEED a good loving hug. There’s nothing sloppy or promiscuous or even the slightest bit dodgy about greeting each other with a hug. I once got into deep water at a church I was visiting when the minister told everyone to greet each other with a hug. How was I to know it was an arms-length hug and an air-kiss with no touching. The stranger I hugged was so surprised when I just hugged her as a friend – but fortunately. she walked away with the biggest smile on her face.

So what is love? Is it mental, physical, reserved for special people only ?? What ?? I think it is both a state of mind and a physical demonstration. I think it is everything described in 1 Corinthians 13. For youngsters it is tinged with passion and an urgency that you lose a bit as you get older. For older people, it is tinged with experience and it goes much deeper than it does for the younger generations. Age brings wisdom into love – a wisdom which quite provably is not availed enough by younger people. Yet love is not something to take for granted. Rather, it is something to be worked at every day of our lives. It is a selfless giving to each other with NO expectation other than that of receiving love. Love is exactly what 1 Corinthians 4-8 says it is. “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.”
That’s it isn’t it? Love NEVER fails and I think it is that realisation that the Lord has so brilliantly brought into focus for me these past few days. He found us. He got us to meet on line. He caused us to fall in love – hopelessly and helplessly in love – even at our ‘advanced’ ages. He brought us together and got us married. THEN He taught us what His love really is about. And let me tell you, there is no greater privilege of loving and receiving love from another human being – especially a fellow Christian who shares your faith and beliefs.