What is Love?

Around Valentine’s Day a word we hear a lot is love. However, it’s a typical word we hear almost every day. “I love my mom,” “I love this cheeseburger,” “I would love to go to Paris” and so on. We use the word love pretty much every day, but what is love? When asked what the definition of love is people usually do not know the answer. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary describes love as “a feeling of strong or constant affection for a person (noun);” and “to feel great affection for someone (verb).” These definitions seem alright; but, no offense to the dictionary, I see love differently. 
The Bible is just filled with verses about love. One specific verse is Matthew 22:37 and 39 which says “Jesus replied: ‘love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” Of course I could quote more verses, but I want to focus on this one. The greatest commandment is to love God and love others. Most Christians know this but have you ever thought about why? Let’s look back at the beginning of the Bible. 
Why did God create humans? He created us out of his love for us. He loved us even before he create us. That’s pretty awesome to think about. God loves us; therefore, it’s pretty easy to show Him affection. So what about others who don’t love us back? How can we show affection to them? If we use the definition of “strong affection” this is very difficult to do. But looking in the Bible we can see that love is a choice. We sin against God all the time, but He still chooses to love us. God is very compassionate toward us, he respects us, and he is kind to us no matter how we treat him. This is love. Love is a choice. We may not like someone or agree with their actions; but God still tells us to love them. Have you been showing others that you love them lately? I encourage you to let your light shine through the love that God has given to you. After all love is why we are here in the first place. Happy Valentine's Day!
Romans 12:9, 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, Ephesians 4:2, 1 John 3:16-18, 1 John 4:8