February is the month in which we celebrate Valentine’s.  It is indeed the “Love” month.  In my three messages (one message this month will be by a guest contributor) I want to touch on matters of love, the man Valentine, and marriage.

In 1965 Hal David wrote a song, recorded and made popular by Jackie DeShannon.  You’ll recognize the song by its opening lyrics: What the world needs now is love sweet love It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of What the world needs now is love sweet love No not just for some but for everyone.

 Anyone care to disagree?  What’s needed now more than ever (in Minneapolis, Portland, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, even Iran) is love.

Love sweet love, however, has a source: God.  “God is love” (1 John 4:8).  Therefore, love must be understood and defined in God’s terms.  Unfortunately, much of what the world (and sadly, the Church) views as love these days is anything but.  For instance, another song (1970) made popular by Stephen Stills, with permission to use a tagline of Billy Preston’s, goes: If you can’t be with the one you love honey, love the one you’re with, love the one you’re with.

 Herein lies the difference between God’s love and the world’s love.  God’s love is a giving love (John 3:16).  It seeks the best interest of the beloved, never rejoicing in what is wrong but always in what is right (1 Corinthians 13:6).  The world’s love is a “taking” love, a “license” that seeks its own interests and gratification at the expense of others.

Apart from the biblical understanding of love the concepts of giving and taking become confused.  The confusion is compounded by the fact that the taking can sometimes look and feel like giving.  It can even go so far as to justify unlawful, unrighteous, unhelpful, even wrong conduct in the name of “love.”  But is such behavior really love?

What the world needs now is not “license” to do whatever one deems right, but love sweet love, God’s love; for God is love.  And this love does no wrong to a neighbor (Romans 13:10).