1 John 4:10
This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
I once heard about a couple who made an appointment with a marriage counselor. They had been married for forty years and the counselor wondered why they would want to talk to him.
The wife started out by saying that she didn’t think her husband loved her—at least he never said he loved her. When the counselor asked the husband if this were true, he readily agreed. The husband explained that he told his wife forty years ago that he loved her and that he had not withdrawn that statement. In the husband’s mind that 40-year-old declaration was still in effect! (I think the counselor wanted to bang his head on the desk!)
It is seldom, if ever, that we choose up sides and talk about the meaning of the word love. Many of us think we have a grasp of its meaning, but there is some doubt that we have plumbed love’s true meaning.
Here is my candid observation: Love is an emotion. The Bible says we are to love and, by its very nature, love needs a positive response to that command. We are prone to love only as long as the person loves us in return. Take that response away and we quickly lose the desire to continue loving.
Like it or not, we humans are self-centered and preoccupied with ourselves. If you want an example of this, just stop and listen to someone’s conversation. Note the way they focus on their own interests and welfare.
—Pastor Cecil