Love is not a feeling, but a choice. That’s not to say you and I don’t have feelings of love, we do. But in our culture today, love has been so misdefined that we may think of it only as an emotion. It’s much more.
Yes, love is emotional, but it’s first a choice to serve.
God is extremely emotional. That’s why when the heart of God would be poured into his prophets, they would shout when they worship God, or they would weep, or they would get on their knees, or they would be extremely intense, emotional guys, because God was putting a little bit of his heart into them.
It’s true, love is about emotion. But you have to move beyond that truth to the essence of love: your choices.
Love doesn’t lead with emotions first because sometimes feelings can be wrong, deceptive, and even dangerous. Our feelings need to be submitted to love and God’s great work on our behalf. I am still amazed at how strong my feelings can be in a certain situation, yet those very same feelings, as strong as they are, don’t always tell me the truth.
Where does love as a choice begin? With Jesus. I choose to deny myself, take up my cross, and follow Jesus. He is the truth. In Christ are found all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. All of the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Jesus.
Colossians 2:3 (NKJV) “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”
Jesus said, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6). He’s the beginning and the end. It starts with Him.
What is love? Jesus is the definition of love. I hope you would agree that Jesus is the most loving human being who ever walked the face of the earth. If everybody on the earth were like Jesus, it would be heaven on earth. Hallelujah! But not everyone is like Jesus. Most reject Him. That’s why the world is so chaotic and even dark. It’s even worse when Christians jump on the world’s bandwagons of politics, celebrity, and whatever, leading them away from Agape love and to a wasted life. You’ve been saved from that! You have been delivered. This world is passing away, but those who do the will of God will live forever. Don’t settle for such a wasted life! Rise up in Agape love.
Ephesians 2:1–3 (NKJV) “And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.”
The goal of being a disciple is to be a little bit more every day, every week, every month, and every year, a little bit more Christ. Walking in His footsteps and following His example. That’s what discipleship really is, and what it’s all about. We follow Him in love and the truth of his life. The way that we get to know his life is through his words. We read His Word and pray, yielding ourselves to the leading of His Spirit.
Matthew 4:4 (NKJV) “But He answered and said, ‘It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ”
Love is one of the most practical things that you can do. It’s not just you know, feelings or sentiment, it is practical. Love is proactive.
Love is intentional, just as Jesus Christ was.
Friend, get back to love. Now.
