Love Is...Not What You Think

   In light of Valentine's Day, I thought I post a few Bible verses about Biblical love and Christ's love for us.

   1 John 4:7-21
(7)Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
(8)He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
(9)In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.
(10)Herin is love, not that we loved God, but that he loves us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
(11)Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought to also love one another.
(12)No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.
(13)Hereby we know that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us his Spirit.
(14)And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.
(15)Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.
(16)And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.
(17)Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgement: because as he is, so are we in this world.
(18)There is no fear in love; but perfect casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not perfect in love.
(19)We love him because he first loved us.
(20)If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?
(21)And this commandment have we from him, that he who loveth God love his brother also.

Obviously, the word love is used frequently in this chapter.
We learned that love is...of God, perfect, fearless and unconditional.

In 1 Corinthians 13, we see that love, or charity, is long-suffering, kind and self-less. It is not boastful or envious.

Mark 12:31 says "...love thy neigbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these."

Luke 6:27 says "But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you."

Biblical love is very different than the world's definition of love, which is self-satisfying, conditional, often impatient and flawed. Biblical love is just the opposite and is best exemplified by Christ's death on the cross to cover our sins.