Love Is A Many Splendid...Meaning

Love...just the sound of the word conjures memories and emotions from "mile" markers in my life..

My first kiss.
My first dance.
My first boyfriend. (not that he was worth mentioning)
The first proposal. (didn't end as well as I thought it would)
The divorce. (yes, there was love involved)
Re-learning to love again.
The birth of my children.
The death of my loved ones.

These are just a few things that come to my mind when I think of love. There are lots and lots of "little" things that are special in their own rights, but these cover most of the basics.

It took me 30 years to understand what "true" love could be like. It took a man who was willing to make me "feel" like I was the best thing in his life, an unexpected arrival, and a call on our lives that was too strong to ignore. It was passion...ignited...enflamed...roaring for Jesus. Our thirst for understanding and knowledge was nearly all we could stand.

Now, we are both avid Bible "studiers" and fairly familiar with the word. I am more the scholar of our unit, and he is more the "life-applicator". We make a great team!

Recently God has put a great desire in my spirit to teach. This means my favorite thing will happen more frequently....study the Bible...yeah God!

My topic of lately has been love. I have delved into this totally complex word to find some answers to questions I am sure we have all asked at some point in our walk.

Is it really possible to love like God/Jesus?
How do I do that? (love like Jesus?)
Where do I find this kind of love?
What if I have been hurt by love?

So, I am being lead to share with you some things I have learned about love.

Let's begin with a look at some Lexicons - NT Greek for now...

All these are meanings for love found in the NT scriptures:
Agapao - (of things) - to be well pleased, to be contented at or with a thing
(of persons) - to love dearly, to be fond of
Agape - love, beloved (more intimate love)
Prosphiles - lovely, acceptable, pleasing
Philadelphia - brotherly love
Philandros - loving her husband
Philarguria - love of money
Philautos - lover of one's own self, selfish
Phileo - to love, to approve of, to like, to kiss, treat affectionately
Philedonos - loving pleasure
Philotheos - Lover of God
Philoteknos - loving one's own offspring or children

WOW! That's 11 different applications of one word: L_O_V_E

It would seem to me that this word love is difficult to define. It must be applied differently in different situations, right? For instance, many people may "love" their pets, "love" their spouse, "love" their kids, "love" their jobs, "love" a favorite restaurant, get my point? What value is each type of love? Is each application equal to the other? I certainly don't think so...

Let's look at scripture...

1 John 4:7 (KJV)
Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.

What exactly is John saying here? I believe he is saying that if we are "IN" God (born of, salvation) and we know God (intimately in a personal relationship) we must have love in us...because God is love and love would manifest (reveal itself - make known) through us to others because we cannot be "IN" God if God is not first "IN" us....right?
And according to John, God "IS" love. So if God is Love, and God is in us(truly in us), we must be love, too!

Let's examine the uses of the word love from our verse.
Both the red-highlighted love and loveth come from the Lexicon - Agapao (to love dearly, to be fond of - referring to persons). Agapao love is a verb. A verb is action. It can be past, present, or future, but it is action!
The blue-highlighted love is from Agape (benevolence, brotherly love, good will - more intimate love). Agape love is a noun. A noun by definition must be a person, place, or thing. It just is....exists so to say.

So, let's read our verse again and interject our meanings...

Beloved, let us love (actively, on purpose, be fond of, love dearly) one another: for love (brotherly love, good will, benevolence, intimate love - that just exsists) is of God (because God IS love); and every one that loveth (actively, on purpose, is fond of or loves dearly) is born of God(God is "IN" you - salvation), and knoweth God (has intimate knowledge through relationship).

Even John used different applications of the word love to express exactly what type of "love" he meant. No wonder we stuggle with understanding ourselves! No wonder there is so much confusion in the world when it comes to understanding "love". Love is a many splendid...meaning!

Th point is we must let God "consume" us inside. We must give over every thing inside oursleves to Him. We must let Him love us...from the inside....out. This is how we find our answers to "love" questions. This is how we are able to truly love others like Jesus. Because we are not yet "perfected", but because we are FLESH, we must work at loving others. It doesn't come natural to us. Naturally we are Philautos - lover's of one's own self. But when we allow God to come into us and we join in Him, the "love" we find there is beyond our wildest dreams! When we are filled with this "complete" love...we cannot help but overflow and spread our love to those around us.