I Want To Know What Love Is


I'm an 80's teen. We played Pac-Man for a quarter, drank New Coke,  asked, "Where's the Beef?," watched Family Ties and A-Team, wore parachute pants and Members Only jackets, and listened to music on a boom box or Walkman. It was on these last devices that we heard Foreigner declare, "I want to know what love is." This is a blog so you'll be be spared my singing it. 
It's a common question that has been asked throughout time. The Bible answers it for us in this verse. "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us." I John 3:16.
Love is often misunderstood. People say things like, "If God loved me then why did this bad thing happen to me? If God loves me then why am I sick? Why did my loved one die? Why did my Dad leave? Why is school so difficult for me? Why did I lose my job?" And the list goes on. The trouble is, none of those things are a part of the definition of love. Love isn't defined by whether good or bad things happen to us. Good and bad things happen to everyone. Sometimes because evil people make bad choices, but sometimes through no one individual's fault in particular.
God's love isn't demonstrated through you getting a raise at work or the police officer not writing you a speeding ticket. Nor is it lacking when your car breaks down or you spill coffee on your shirt before a meeting. What a shallow definition of love.
Jesus is God's demonstration of love.
"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8.
If you ever wonder whether God loves you or not you never need to look any further than the cross. The cross is all the assurance you will ever need of the love of God. 
So the next time you lock your keys in the car or your toddler won't go to sleep don't second guess the love of God. God loves you with an everlasting love. At the hospital God loves you. At the funeral home God loves you. When people let you down God loves you. The cross is your evidence. You are loved.
"For God so loved the world, He gave His one and only Son." John 3:16.
Following the Son,

James A Williams

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