Love

I keep seeing sentiments like this expressed everywhere I look. Twitter, Facebook, every social media platform I use. It’s important to mention that because the people expressing agreement with these sentiments are not nameless, faceless strangers or journalists. They’re people we know. Friends, family, people we went to school with, people we work with maybe. And to be clear: I'm not sharing the above picture to make anybody feel bad, it's just an example of things that are currently flooding my timeline. 

Aside from sentiments like the above, I can't believe the amount of articles I've seen with deliberately misleading headlines, filled with speculation and opinions and people believe them like it's absolute fact. It's truly astonishing. 

All these view points and beliefs. Emotions stated as absolute truths, feelings over facts. I understand, it’s the world we live in now. 

Oxford Dictionaries 2016 word of the year was “post-truth.” 

POST-TRUTH:

 Relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective  facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals  to emotion and personal belief.

Horrifying, in my opinion. I am a person that deeply values facts and absolute truths, far above feelings. It is, at times I’m sure, my greatest fault. It has been jokingly said about me that “my only loyalty is to the truth.” We probably shouldn’t examine too closely the accuracy of that “joke.” However, I hold steady to the belief that a person who values the absolute (not subjective, but objective) truth above all else is of tremendous value. I certainly value the people in my life who tell me the truth, and don’t spare my feelings. Unpleasant, certainly. But necessary? Absolutely. 

But I digress. 

Something that has been paraded around recently is this “lovetrumpshate” idea. It’s hashtags, it’s on signs held at protests, it comes out of our friend’s mouths. We’ve all heard it. We hear the word “love” constantly. All we need is “love.” To be clear: I’m all for love. Yes, please, LET’S. Let’s LOVE each other. I’m in. 

But I’m realizing something. In today’s society the word “love” is nothing more than a cheap platitude, used for moral superiority and to manipulate people into agreement. 

They say “Love” while they’re violent and destructive. They say “Love” while they abort babies. They say “Love” while they scream obscenities. They say “Love” until you have a different view point, then there is, nor will the ever be, any “Love.” 

We have a profound misunderstanding of the word “Love.” 

Let me say this: any time manipulation is in play under the disguise of love- it’s not love. LOVE does not manipulate to get it’s way, or to mislead people into agreement. Love doesn’t have ulterior motives. Especially not ones aimed for personal gain at your expense. 

Let’s talk about what LOVE is. 

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

The scripture goes on to say in verse 8 (paraphrasing) that while everything else fades away, love does not. Love never fails. 

Interesting, isn’t it? Doesn’t leave a lot of room for excuses. 

Or let’s look at this (and this is Jesus talking): 

John 13:34

A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so also you must love one another. 

Or one of my personal favorites (again, Jesus talking): 

John 15:13

Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 

As if those scriptures weren’t enough to illuminate our eyes to the truth of LOVE, let’s remember in 1 John 4 it says that one who says “I love God” but hates his brother is a liar. So we understand that if we say we love God, but hate each other, we don’t love God either. 

And let’s not forget the most (and often, in-correctly) quoted scripture: 

John 3:16

For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him would not perish but have eternal life. 

You’ll have to forgive me, if you don’t believe the Bible. I do. And as far as absolute truths go, it’s unmatched. 

So yes. Love trumps hate. All we need is love. Let’s love each other. But for LOVE to be effective, it must be real LOVE, based in real truth. 

I’ll leave you with these final thoughts: 

Romans 12:2

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

And in the words of the late, great MJ

“I’m starting with the man in the mirror. I’m asking him to change his ways.”