The true meaning of love

Defining love is one of the most difficult tasks for man. Many have tried but failed to provide its proper meaning. To some it is a feeling, for others it is a choice. Some link it with friendship, family, and/or romance while others think it is just luck. The effort to define love gives birth to various beautiful ideas about love but its true meaning is still at large. It is as if love is a “mystery” that is not revealed to man.

Love seems to be so powerful that it transcends cultural boundaries, survives through generations, softens the hardest of hearts, mends broken hearts, and so much more. What exactly is love? In addition, what about it that makes it so strong?

The problem is not that love is difficult to define; it is that man is looking for the meaning where it is not. As a result, his definitions are either incomplete, flawed, or both. For instance, many define it as a choice. Let’s see if that is true. Suppose Mr. Smith chooses to take his wife to a wonderful romantic dinner at the most expensive restaurant in town just to spend some quality time with her. His action would be considered as an act of love. Imagine Mr. Jones chooses to slap his wife because she comes home late from work. His violence toward her would unveil that his action is not love.

Since, clearly, not all choices are acts of love, the conclusion that “love is a choice” is erroneous and must be changed to “love is certain choices.” Still, there are two problems with this idea. First, it reduces love to “certain choices” while it is so much more than that. Second, if Mr. Smith’s action is an “act of love,” then evidently love is not defined. It is because Mr. Smith loved his wife that he chose to take her to a wonderful romantic dinner. Therefore, love preceded the choice. Love was Mr. Smith’s motivation to choose to do something beautiful for his wife. If this is true, then what is love?

The bottom line is that “choice” is only an aspect of love. In other words, it is a way that can manifest love. However, it is not love itself. The same principle applies to most, if not all, of the popular definitions of love.

One thing to note about love is that it existed before life; its existence predates parents, grand parents, great grand parents all the way back to the first parents, Adam and Eve. Another thing to notice about it is that it is immutable; it does not change. Though people might manifest it in different ways, love itself remains the same.

The only way to find love’s true meaning is to look in the right place, its origin. The bible states that “… anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love” (1 John 4:7). This passage reveals two fundamental truths. First, one knows love by knowing God. Second, God is love. In other words, the only way to know love is by knowing God because God is love. The only definition of love is “God.” This means that God alone is Love. Any other definition is either incomplete, flawed, or both.