Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it: if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned.
Song 8:7 KJV
“Love never fails” is the testimony of the New Testament. True love will overcome and prevail. It cannot be sunk in the storm or in the floods. After the flood is passed love will still be seen clearly inscribed in the ‘sand’ by the sea shores.
There are three things that are better than others; among them love is better than wine. The implication is that there can be no substitute for love. Love cannot be replaced by money, houses, cars, a good job, food, drink etc. Many times people who claim to be in love with another give these things, intending to show how they love the other person, yet the object of their affection does not feel loved even with all those things.
Again, our love for God is not measured merely by how much of our materials we give. It is not a matter of activities and performances. It seems God is not impressed by much ‘serving’ as if with wine as in devotion to Him.
If many misunderstand love so much we must need ask ourselves, ‘what then is love?’ If love is not necessarily measured just by the material things we give, then what is love? How does God measure our love? Let us see love from a few angles.
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. 1 John 3:16-17. Love always gives but what it gives is equal to LIFE itself. The content of love is life. Love is the pouring out of our lives, for someone to drink and be satisfied. My love toward someone will seek to meet a need in the life of that person that will demand ‘my own life to be laid down’. It does not mean that one would die necessarily at the moment but that what is going out of me at that time is drawing out of me as it were my very life. The principle is always of willing surrender and not coerced submission. It comes with a realization of the need of the other and a willingness to offer my self as a solution to that need. It is a lesson we have learnt from the Lord Himself.
This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 1 John 4:10-11. The first aspect may seem to describe the object as someone that is likeable but here we see that the object is actually not in the occasion loveable. There are two aspects of this; first it refers to someone who is out rightly an opponent; an ‘adversary’ if you like. But we are referring to someone who is genuinely not deserving of our love. It is to this person that we demonstrate the love described above. But the second person may be a ‘loved’ one but in the circumstance not in his or her best state. It may seem easy to love someone when he is in line; when he is doing everything well, but what happens when he is not in his best element? What happens when he fails to show his good side?
It is at this point that our love must be clearly demonstrated even much more than when he was good to us. This scripture helps us to see who the true object of our love is and when love shines the most.
This is love for God: to obey his commands. 1 John 5:3
And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. …his command is that you walk in love. 2 John 6
Love is revealed in willing obedience. Our obedience shows that our hearts are in agreement with the one who gives the instructions. It shows our union or oneness with the Lord. A disobedient child is a rebellious child whose heart is not one with his father’s. He is self seeking and proud who fails in obedience. When a person struggles with obedience, you see a person whose heart is not loyal. Our love is seen therefore by our willingness to be one with others and to follow instructions without complaining. Grumbling and complaining are obvious signs of disunity hence lack of love.