True Love

True Love

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

Ephesians 3:19

Why is it that most songs are about love—the celebration of love, the need for love, the agony over the loss of love? Perhaps it’s because music is a way we express our deepest feelings and desires, and all of us have a deep desire to love and be loved. But can we really expect to experience love that will never disappoint, never fade, and never leave?

If we expect the rush of romance with another person to be the most satisfying love we can ever know, we are doomed to disappointment, because no other human can ever love us fully, completely, perfectly, or forever. We’re limited by our humanity and our sinfulness. But Jesus’ love is greater than any other love in the universe. He shows us what love looks like.

Jesus’ love is not like human love, which grows weary of our quirks and habits. Jesus is patient. He will not bring up your failures from the past and use them against you. He forgives and forgets your sins, casting them away as far as the east is from the west (See Psalm 103:12). Jesus will never fail to defend those he loves. Out of his love for you and his hatred for evil, he will take up your case and will make everything right one day. Do you think Jesus will give up on you, release his grip on you, or walk away from you? Absolutely not. That’s not what True Love does.

DISCUSSION STARTERS

Can you think of a song about love that is either insightfully true or ridiculously false?

Why do you think God made us with such a deep desire to be loved?

How does it help you to know that Jesus’ love is so strong and solid?