What is Love?

"The sad thing is that a radically man-centered view of love permeates our culture and our churches... Most modern people can scarcely imagine an alternative understanding of feeling loved other than feeling made much of. If you don't make much of me you are not loving me.

But when you apply this definition of love to God, it weakens his worth, undermines his goodness, and steals our final satisfaction... We claim to be praising God because of his love for us. But if his love for us is at bottom his making much of us, who is really being praised? We are willing to be God-Centered, it seems, as long as God is man-centered. We are willing to boast in the cross as long as the cross is a witness to our worth. Who then IS our pride and joy?"
-Excerpt from God is the Gospel by John Piper
I've only just begun an 8 week study on "Fighting for Joy": When I don't Desire God, and already God is changing my life. He's speaking gently to me in correction and Truth, putting me on His knee assuring me, that no matter how much I rebel, and no matter how much I make this about me... Its about Him, its always been about Him.

I realize that the above excerpt is tough to chew on. I chewed on it and found myself sick to my stomach. The very being of me, I despised. I long to share all that I've learned with you, but I'm still articulating these thoughts... and I have no idea!

So here it is. My heart being exposed to you. Day 4 aka the breaking point. What is Love?

Question: The Bible clearly teaches that "God is Love" in 1 John 4:8. In todays world, however, love is an ambiguous concept. In your own words attempt to explain what we mean when we say "God loves us".

My Answer: I'm not sure if I should take the ambiguous route and describe the "we" aspect or describe my aspect, but I'm going to work them both in here...

WE love McDonalds, we love perfume, we love cool weather, we love working out, we love the color green (especially at stop lights), we love lamp, we love to eat, we love to cook, we love money, we love sex, we love drugs, we love to love "love". As a society we claim to be driven by "love" to do "good" things. Many movies portray this love as give and take. In Jerry McGuire, Rod says (after receiving the promise of a pay increase), "you're lovin' me now". And that right there, IS society's interpretation of the phrase "God loves us". Namely God PROVIDES, PROSPERITY, and ABUNDANCE.

'If God "loved" me, he wouldn't do this', or 'if we have a "loving" God, why would he allow that to happen', and my favorite 'why do bad things happen to "good" people, doesn't God "love" what is "good"?'

I will be honest, I'm guilty of all of the statements I've made thus far. As a society and church we've altered the idea of "love" to fit our culture, our generation, our ministry, and our circumstances.

*At this point in my journal I drew a cartoon (I can't draw, but I'll try uploading a picture some time) its of a young lady, in a cheerleader outfit, with a mum, a crown (indicating homecoming queen) and a call out saying "Why yes. I have everything, God loves me." And then in the distance the outline of Africa with a child on their knees saying "what about us?".*

What is this "love"? I would venture to say it is not love at all. Rather a "love", using that term rather loosely, a love of self, pride, and god-like worship of adorning ourselves with this idea of "the more we have, the more we are "loved"".

THIS IS NOT LOVE.

To be honest, I can now only imagine love as the cross. Not that God spared Christ for our sins, but that he SACRIFICED him. His wrath was still necessary. Jesus did not reflect his wrath, he ABSORBED it. Sin was not spared, there was a propitiation, Christ. My mind still cannot entirely wrap around this idea of love. Its foreign to me because the moment I begin to understand Love, my heart runs to the satisfaction and worldly love that society has portrayed on a silver platter. Only TRUTH can describe Love, the Bible 1 John 4. God is LOVE. We know love if we know Jesus. God loves us, means everything, namely HE DESERVES ALL THE GLORY!