Shew I unto you a more excellent way.
In discussing love, the Apostle Paul does not begin by explaining his presuppositions, but with addressing ours. He does not dwell on what love is, he camps on what it is not. His aim is to pick off any of the presuppositions we tracked in on the rug with us. Oh, you thought love what like that? Well, it's not.
1 Corinthians 13:4-8
Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
Love is long suffering and kind.
It is not a grabby grabfest of unrequited feelings. It is not insistent on being heard, seen, or catered to. It is not full of itself. It has standards and there are things it will not do. It is not a matter of following the heart wherever it leads, regardless of how dark or unseemly. It is not inherently self-interested. It is not a bully. It is not looking to be offended and inventing new ways to incite outrage. It does not simmer on sin. It does marinate in malice. It does not throw parades for perversion. It doe not celebrate sin.
1 John 4:7-10
Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. 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. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
Love is not what most people think it is. Love is not God. God is love. Before you can understand love, you must understand God. If you do not know God, you do not know what love is. John here, like Paul in our previous example, is zealous to point out what love is NOT. When it comes to love, there is always a lot of mud on our shoes and the Bible invites us wipe our feet at the door so that we might come in and understand love.
All loves are not created equal. In that sense, love is not love, or more precisely, not everything that calls itself love or is called love by others is, in fact, Love or in keeping with the Law of Love.
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