In a documentary, one porn actress who was interviewed mentioned that to her, one of the most disgusting things in a porn scene is to hear her male partner say, ‘I love you.’ In her explanation, that statement offense her so much because porn has nothing whatsoever to do with love; and pornstars do what they do because of the money and nothing more.
Indeed, people mistake many things for love, making love the most misinterpreted word in the world. Though the world often misinterprets love and many misunderstand what love is, the Bible gives us the true picture of love.
In the days when Jesus Christ went about preaching, He enlightened the people on many things bordering our social and spiritual life. In His sermons, He did not forget to touch on this all-important topic of love. Since there is a lot of controversy about what love is, many would be eager to know how Jesus defined love, and that is exactly what we are going to look at. Jesus’ definition of love depends on the sort of love in question. First of all, in His sermons, Jesus made two very important statements about love:
And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. Mark 12:30
And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. Mark 12:31
To put it briefly, we can identify two things in the verses above: that is, love for God and love for your neighbor; or love for God and love for your fellow man. These two different levels or kinds of love do not mean the same; they are defined differently.
How Jesus defined love for God.
And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. (Mark 12:30)
It is possible to misunderstand this phenomenon of showing love to the Almighty, all-powerful God of heaven. Since, at no time has any man met God, nor touched Him, nor seen Him, how do we love Him? Since Jesus Christ Himself is God. This is how He defined loving God:
He that hath my (Jesus) commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. (John 14:21)
Comparing what is written in Mark 12:30 and John 14:21, which were all said by Jesus, Jesus defined love – that is, loving God – to be keeping His commandments or being obedient to His commandments or being obedient to His word.
In light of Jesus’ definition of love for God, deeds such as obedience to parents (Eph 6:1), winning souls (Mt 28:19), praying for one’s enemies (Mt 5:44), giving to the poor (Mt 5:42), praying (1Th 5:17), etc. are all inspired by the word of God. Doing such deeds is obedience to God and, hence, it is showing love to God.
How Jesus defined loving your neighbor as yourself
And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. (Mark 12:31)
Loving your neighbor as yourself, what is it? Or how is it like? It is like this:
31 And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them (Luke 6:31). OR “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets (Matthew 7:12).
According to Jesus, love – that is, love for your neighbor – is treating your neighbor the same manner you would want him to treat you. Therefore, respect others, care for others, support others, correct them when they are going wayward, forgive others when they offend you, etc. for this is how you would like to be treated. This is the way to love your neighbor.
Conclusion
The definition Jesus gave for love depended on the kind of love; whether love for God or love for one’s neighbor. He defined love – love for God – as obedience to His word. And He defined love – love for neighbor – as treating your neighbor the same way you would have him treat you. Though all the two are important, the love for God comes first.