What Is Love? 

   “This is what love is: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins.” (1 John 4: 10).

 

   He loved us first.  He created us, and He loved us and loves us still.  The love He has for us is the love we are to share with one another in this life.  Not the false, imitation love so prevalent in society today, but the deep abiding love of the Father.

   Jesus Christ is the model of love that we are to follow.  A love that is for the good of the other regardless of the sacrifices we are to make along the way.  Christ sacrificed all, including His life, to redeem us from our sins.  We are to sacrifice for the beloved of our life, first for God and then for one another.    

   The closest we come to the love God has for us is the love between a man and a woman joined in a faithful, sacramental marriage.  When we stand before God and witnesses and take the marriage vows we are pledging ourselves not only to each other, but also to allow God to be an integral part of that pledge; to trust in Him in times of difficulty and strengthen our love.  Without the trinity of husband, wife, and God there can be no sacramental marriage.

   “Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding banquet of the Lamb.” (Rev 19: 9).  The bible, from beginning to end is the story of a wedding.  It is the wedding of the Bridegroom, Jesus Christ, and His beloved, those who believe in Him.  If we do not strive to share that kind of love with others, we really don’t know what love is.