What Is Love?

I want to share with you the most amazing story of love, the story of Maria Sosa. Maria lived in poverty in Colombia where terrorists roamed the countryside taking children to indoctrinate them in their warfare ways. One night they came for her 11 year old son, she begged them not to take him and miraculously they didn’t.  That night she packed a few things and set out walking with her family, which included a young daughter in a wheelchair, her husband who had suffered a stroke and both her sons. She walked with them many miles through the jungle searching for a place of safety. Can you imagine such faith? Love pushed her on. God opened doors she did not know were there. They wound up in Canada, a place she never knew existed. She only knew she was desperate to save her sons from a deadly situation. What an act of love for her family which changed the course of many generations.( See “The Power Of Focus” page 1). 

There are many descriptions of love in the actions of this mother. Let’s look at seven insightful P words so you can come to a deeper understanding of what real love is from the Love-Giver.

1)Love is a Place

A place of contentment, rest and peace. A place of restoration for the torn or brokenhearted. A place Dorothy longed for in the land of Oz. Your grandma’s porch swing as you sat with her on a lazy summer day. For Maria love was a place of safety.

2) Love is Positive

If negative thoughts come to mind, dismiss them for they are not of God. Choose to allow positive thoughts that uplift you to enter and entertain your mind. These thoughts will create a smooth flow in the function of your brain and then it will produce  kindness, caring and positive emotions in your life. Maria focused on the positive which was life, she didn’t settle for the negative which was death.

3) Love is a Person

His name is Jesus. You sang it as a child, ”Jesus loves me this I know.” This makes it personal. He is love and He is the embodiment of love. Every facet of Him is love. What a privilege to be wrapped in His love. Jesus death created access to a Holy Heavenly Father. Accept Him as your Savior and you become one with Him. Accept the unacceptable (that you are unworthy) and choose to accept this life altering relationship that will give you life now and for eternity. Jesus opened doors and performed miracles for Maria.

4) Love is Painful

When you mourn the death or loss of someone the level of intensity of the pain is proportional to the level of love you knew. There is no way out of the pain except to take the journey of mourning. Mourn you must, you will triumph past the tears. Don’t be afraid to love for fear you will get hurt. The love is worth the risk of pain. When my first husband died, I had concerns when I fell in love with Sam. I did not want to be a widow again. But it’s been 34 years that I would not trade. For Maria it was painful to leave her home and press forward into the unknown, but she found life and liberty.

5) Love is Persistent

God continually exists and God is love making love a basic attribute of God ( 1 John 4:7). God loves us with a love that never fails. Faith and hope even springboard from love (1 Corinthians 13:8). God will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). You have an all encompassing  power from God who makes you more than a conqueror no matter what you go through in death or life (Romans 8: 38-39). I read this to my husband on his death bed where we received reassurance he would never be separated from God, in life or death.  God was persistently with Maria on her path to peace.

6) Love is a Precept

Love is a mandate from the magnificent Creator. When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was He said “Love the Lord your God with every passion of your heart, with all the energy of your being, and with every thought that is within you…and the second is..love your friend in the same way you love yourself” (Matthew 22:37-39 TPT). Maria was consumed with passion as every thought and energy was tapped into to preserve her treasure.

7) Love is Personality

I love it that God has a sense of humor. In the “Chosen” series Jesus is portrayed as real, he laughed, shared, was kind and caring. God is not a harsh task master who doles out punishment and tragedy. Sometimes difficulties are allowed by Him in our fallen world but He will carry you through, you have to trust him. Maria had  confidence and gumption to do what she did.

At first pondering about love was so profound it was intimidating. How could I do justice to it by talking about it? Instead, love proved to be real, personal, uplifting and perfect. Listen to Rachael Lampa’s song “Perfectly Loved.” It says there has never been a moment when you are not perfectly loved, even if you feel unlovely, alone or inadequate. Saturate yourself with love as you meditate on how much the Love-Giver loves you beyond your comprehension and you will find yourself refreshed and renewed with a greater understanding of Love. Love will sustain and carry you through any difficulty or journey, as it did for Maria and her family, for love never fails.

Love, Debbie