Biblical Love

What is Biblical love and why does it matter?

As I have been writing Love Restored: An Allegorical Quest to Heal Elarion and Recover the First Fruit, I have realised that love matters, and it matters a lot. The type of love I want to focus on is not the kind you find in movies like Love Actually or other such movies, not that I have an issue with them. I want to write about Biblical love in this blog. Biblical Love is not merely a feeling or an experience; it is actually deeper and requires faith and sacrifice.

Galatians 5:22-23: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” ESV

The fruit of the Spirit as described by the Apostle Paul is what we will look at.

Paul describes love brilliantly in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7.

“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” ESV

Love is: patient, kind, rejoices in truth, always trusts, always hopes and always perseveres even in the toughest of times.

Romans 12:9-10 “Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honour.“ ESV.

Paul basically tells us love is a deliberate action and a choice; for the Christian, it is the outward expression of faith. To love others is to put yourself second and others first.

Love is not: self-seeking, boastful, envious; it does not dishonour God or others; it is not proud or easily angered; and it keeps no record of wrongdoing.

Biblical love matters because God calls us to live like Jesus, who is perfect in love. We will fail, but we have an advocate in Jesus who helps us move forward by faith and bear fruit in love.

I have been married to my wonderful wife for fifteen years. When we disagree, the worst and most unloving thing we can do is bring up past failings. The reason is that if they are forgiven, they should never be brought up again. Jesus does not hold our past against us, so we should not hold it against our wives or husbands; it is uncharitable to do so, and it creates more issues.

Jesus forgave us unconditionally and never recounts our past. He dealt with it on the cross.

So, love in the Bible is different from what most people think; in fact, our beautiful Jesus Christ came into this world, lived, and died as the greatest act of love this world has ever seen or will ever see. What other King stoops low to be with his people, live with them, and die for them? There is none but Jesus.

In my book Love Restored, the characters are sent to recover a lost fruit called love; it is the King's love, stolen from an ancient tree.

You can join the journey by starting with The Sword of Truth: An Allegory About Recovering Truth.

Written by Daniel J. York.