"But the people who love God and his broken creatures—really love them, to the point even of death—hope against hope to get joy and life everlasting." I would go a step further and say, if we really love God and his broken creatures then we also hope for the latter to gain joy and life everlasting.
Love is a commandment, but love is a gift. Love fills your heart but empties you out. I do not understand many things, but I know that God loves us and sent His Son. I do not love it when love is used as an excuse for misbehavior.
Dear Spencer, I so appreciate how you weave cute, even silly cultural references with your beautiful scholarly wisdom. I adore you Klavans, and the way you turn a phrase! 🤩Thank you both so much for your precious time and effort, poured lovingly into these Substack entries. I look forward to each and every one.
I think it is promising to see the iconic WWJD bracelets that took off in the 90s make an even better comeback in 2024 with "HWLF" (he would love first). The cultural tide is turning and it's so exciting to see it play out both in this publication and in the culture. And, just like any other virtue, it is being simultaneously twisted into the hollow, meaning-stripped "LOVE" campaign. But this new cultural tide of love may very well embody and reclaim the true meaning of the word...if we can do it right.
This painful refining process we call life has taught me that it is one thing to say things and even pray for someone, but showing up is what connects you to someone and it almost always requires a cost. Showing up for others is what binds you eternally to them and also to His Son. This is how we "overcome" the world. It is a lifetime process to learn to act and not be acted upon.
With the Princess Bride reference, and then the question, “what is love?” I thought for sure you were going to quote Wesley/Dread Pirate Roberts, with, “Love is pain.” 😂
I have never understood why people pray for good things to happen.
If it is possible to come closer to God through Christ and then to align yourself with the will of God, why should anyone go fishing for divine intervention?
Isn't it selfish to wield the magic of the universe without giving anything of yourself?
Once again, love is imprecise, and is an emotion as well as a virtue. I can say I love a good pizza, I love the Steelers, and I love my wife within the same sentence, but they mean drastically different things. I am NOT willing to die for the first two (well, maybe the pizza). I am willing to sacrifice some cash or time for those, but for the woman I’ve known over 50 years, she is more important to me than my own life, as are my children. We also use that word, like Inigo Montoya says, but it does not mean what we think it to mean. The Greeks did it better, but we have so many words, but tend to lump many things into single words, likely out of verbal laziness.
You said it yourself: “Love…is something you do.” The word scripture uses can be a noun as in the scripture you quote about God’s love. It can also be a verb as in the Royal Command, “You shall love the Lord your God…and love your neighbor as yourself.” The word translated “love” in both cases is a form of “agape,” defined as a choice or a decision of the mind to love something or someone. Scripture uses a completely different word for “love…is something you feel.” God decided (agape) to love us and requires us to decide (agape) to love Him first, best, and always and love (agape) our neighbor as ourselves. This is a command and we can decide to obey it or not. For those who are set on becoming more and more the likeness of Christ the choice is so easy! We “decide” to love regardless of how we “feel” about it and then depend on God’s promise of all the grace we need to follow through on our decision. Then we take that grace and walk with God, being directed by Him through the whole exercise, to accomplish everything He wants in this situation because of our decision love His way. And God gets all their glory because (when you think about it) He does all the work! Through us! Then we bask in His smile and His, “Well done!”
In answer to your question “what’s love cost ya”
Queen Elizabeth the II had it spot on on the death of her husband Prince Philip “grief is the price you pay for love“ that’s the cost
"But the people who love God and his broken creatures—really love them, to the point even of death—hope against hope to get joy and life everlasting." I would go a step further and say, if we really love God and his broken creatures then we also hope for the latter to gain joy and life everlasting.
Love is a commandment, but love is a gift. Love fills your heart but empties you out. I do not understand many things, but I know that God loves us and sent His Son. I do not love it when love is used as an excuse for misbehavior.
Dear Spencer, I so appreciate how you weave cute, even silly cultural references with your beautiful scholarly wisdom. I adore you Klavans, and the way you turn a phrase! 🤩Thank you both so much for your precious time and effort, poured lovingly into these Substack entries. I look forward to each and every one.
I think it is promising to see the iconic WWJD bracelets that took off in the 90s make an even better comeback in 2024 with "HWLF" (he would love first). The cultural tide is turning and it's so exciting to see it play out both in this publication and in the culture. And, just like any other virtue, it is being simultaneously twisted into the hollow, meaning-stripped "LOVE" campaign. But this new cultural tide of love may very well embody and reclaim the true meaning of the word...if we can do it right.
This painful refining process we call life has taught me that it is one thing to say things and even pray for someone, but showing up is what connects you to someone and it almost always requires a cost. Showing up for others is what binds you eternally to them and also to His Son. This is how we "overcome" the world. It is a lifetime process to learn to act and not be acted upon.
With the Princess Bride reference, and then the question, “what is love?” I thought for sure you were going to quote Wesley/Dread Pirate Roberts, with, “Love is pain.” 😂
Thank you for the observation that love can be evaluated in terms of whether it involves sacrifice.
But Spencer, c’mon! Now I’ve got “What is love?! Baby don’t hurt me” earworm-dogging me for the rest of the day.
I have another philosophical confession…
I have never understood why people pray for good things to happen.
If it is possible to come closer to God through Christ and then to align yourself with the will of God, why should anyone go fishing for divine intervention?
Isn't it selfish to wield the magic of the universe without giving anything of yourself?
The prophets of old Moses and Abraham prayed for intervention. Maybe its just a matter of asking for more time to repent before the axe falls.
Once again, love is imprecise, and is an emotion as well as a virtue. I can say I love a good pizza, I love the Steelers, and I love my wife within the same sentence, but they mean drastically different things. I am NOT willing to die for the first two (well, maybe the pizza). I am willing to sacrifice some cash or time for those, but for the woman I’ve known over 50 years, she is more important to me than my own life, as are my children. We also use that word, like Inigo Montoya says, but it does not mean what we think it to mean. The Greeks did it better, but we have so many words, but tend to lump many things into single words, likely out of verbal laziness.
Oh…this brought me to tears.
You said it yourself: “Love…is something you do.” The word scripture uses can be a noun as in the scripture you quote about God’s love. It can also be a verb as in the Royal Command, “You shall love the Lord your God…and love your neighbor as yourself.” The word translated “love” in both cases is a form of “agape,” defined as a choice or a decision of the mind to love something or someone. Scripture uses a completely different word for “love…is something you feel.” God decided (agape) to love us and requires us to decide (agape) to love Him first, best, and always and love (agape) our neighbor as ourselves. This is a command and we can decide to obey it or not. For those who are set on becoming more and more the likeness of Christ the choice is so easy! We “decide” to love regardless of how we “feel” about it and then depend on God’s promise of all the grace we need to follow through on our decision. Then we take that grace and walk with God, being directed by Him through the whole exercise, to accomplish everything He wants in this situation because of our decision love His way. And God gets all their glory because (when you think about it) He does all the work! Through us! Then we bask in His smile and His, “Well done!”
A very man centered definition. Therefore concerned with the truth, rather than how it makes you feel.
Too blatantly biased to comment. Oops, I just did.