They say love is like entering the lottery, and “you’re probably not gonna win.” Some statistics claim most marriages end in divorce, or that they consist of unhappy people. The pop culture magazines and the edgy social media posts champion this belief that love is whatever you want it to be.
“Love is a battlefield,” cry the ladies singing Pat Benatar, and the men have given up on chivalry altogether. Sorry Sinatra. Unfortunately, beyond romance, we find ourselves struggling with this virtue in all sorts of environments and circumstances.
All it takes is a wave of frustration, anxiety, or any other blinding emotion for us to suppress any practice of this crazy little thing called . But quite frankly, while the world may deal with it flippantly, Christians have little excuse to do the same. Indeed, our two greatest commandments are centered in the love of the Lord and the love of our neighbor.
And yet, I can’t help but wonder if the church is just as prone to viewing love from a faulty perspective as the rest of the world is. Consequently, a faulty understanding will lead us to avoiding it, shoving it aside, or “failing” at it. But the reality is that love, if placed upon the wrong foundation, is simply not love.
As such, especially ought to be proactive in placing love upon what is truthful and glorifying to God. How do we do this? Well, you’ll find many a book written to conquer this very question. However, it would suffice to focus on one key distinction: .