Love is the Answer

In the '60's the Beatles sang, "All you need is love," and in the 70's Todd Rundgren told us, "Love is the answer." It's ironic, then, that they were right ... and wrong.

The Bible places great weight on love. "Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins," Peter wrote (1 Peter 4:8). "Let all you do be done in love," Paul wrote (1 Cor 16:14). Jesus said, "By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another" (John 13:35), and at this moment you might come across a dilemma. "Wait, if Jesus's disciples are supposed to be recognized by love, how does that distinguish them? Doesn't everybody love?"

The Bible says "No." The Bible says, "Love is from God" (1 John 4:7) and "God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in Him" (1 John 4:16). In fact, "We love because He first loved us" (1 John 4:19). It is, then, impossible to love if we don't know Him. "Now, hang on," we are sure to say, "we know that's not true. I mean, look at a mother. They almost universally love their babies." Or other examples. So how do we correlate our experience ("You can see love everywhere.") with Scripture? Most are happy to dimiss Scripture; I'll stick with it. Besides, it's the same problem we saw when Paul wrote, "No one does good, not even one" (Rom 3:12) and we know lots of people do good. How do we put these together without deleting either experience or Scripture? It's fairly simple, actually. It's in the simple question, "What do you mean by ...?" In the latter, "What do you mean by 'good'?" and in the former, "What do you mean by 'love'?"

The biblical version of love is almost absent from the planet. That's because it's not natural. For many it's not even good. The biblical version of love is shaped by the One who defines love -- God (1 John 4:8). God is love. Real love is defined by God. And Paul famously laid out what that looks like.

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. (1 Cor 13:4-7)

Some of those are obvious, but most are mostly outlandish in actual practice. Love is patient -- not quick tempered -- and kind. That "kind" is not merely "nice," but intentionally beneficial to the loved one. Love doesn't want what others have nor begrudge them having it (envy). Love doesn't talk about how wonderful I am (boast) nor does it allow me to have an inflated view of myself (arrogant). Love is not rude. Imagine that in today's world without civility. Love does not insist on its own way ... in direct contrast to the guy who tells the reluctant girl, "If you love me, you'll do what I want." That "not irritable" is "not easily provoked." That "not resentful" is "doesn't keep accounts of wrongs suffered." Literally "Doesn't keep an inventory of wrongs." Love makes a contrast between injustice ("wrongdoing") and truth, not rejoicing in the former and applauding the latter. Love bears all things. The literal translation is love quietly covers all things. Like Peter's "covers a multitude of sins." Love believes the best, hopes for the best, and endures even if it doesn't happen. I don't think any honest person could say, "Yes, that is the kind of love I see around me all the time." We see the "warm affection" kind of love and we see the "more than liking you" kind of love and we are very familiar with the "let's have sex" kind of love, but the kind of love described here is, practically speaking, nearly impossible to find because 1) it is fundamentally selfless and we are not and 2) it is only from God and, thus, does not come naturally to all humans. This kind of love is a choice, almost entirely foreign in our world.

So, they were right. Love is the answer. Love covers a multitude of sins. Love fulfills the law (Rom 13:8). Love does no wrong to a neighbor (Rom 13:10). And the standard of love is as Christ loves (John 13:34). No one is to be excluded from this love, including enemies (Matt 5:44). And, above all, this love is commanded (an impossibility if love is an emotion). That love is the answer. We know how Christ loved us. Now, go and do thou likewise.