What is Love?

If you first thought of the Haddaway song when you read this title, you're not alone...I've pretty much had that song stuck in my head ever since I started writing this post.

I've been debating about writing this post for a while, so I figured no time is better to do it than now. 

First of all, I want to share a bit of God's humor and perfect timing. So, the first church service I went to this year was at Athens Church, and the theme of the message was "The One Thing" with a focus on the song "One Thing Remains," and I really felt like that's what God wanted to reveal to me during the year of 2013. Not only did (and do) I need to focus on my one important thing here on this earth, but He also desires to constantly show me (and all of us) just how much He loves us. The last Sunday of last year (aka: Dec. 29, 2013), I went to a service at Stevens Creek, and they closed with the song "One Thing Remains." Call me crazy, or write it off as a coincidence, but I'm pretty sure He was saying something and reminding me of His promise. 

This blog post is kind of inspired by that song and some of the things that He's been revealing to me over the year.

I want to start by defining love. Where do I begin? 

The world has so corrupted our perception of what love is that it can be hard to define...that is, unless you know Love, the One who IS Love. 

The Greeks had 4 different words to describe love. (Thank you, Westminster education, for teaching me something that I can blog about. haha) 

(1) Eros is used to describe sensual love based upon beauty. 
(2) Storge refers to a family bond, the love felt by a parent for a child. 
(3) Philia is used to describe friendships. Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love, is a current example of a word that branches from this particular Greek word. 
(4) The final and most important form of love is agape. This is love in its purest form. It doesn't have to be earned and isn't based upon anything. It's truly unconditional. And it's the love that God has for us.

Now that we have a bit of a background on where the word "love" comes from and what it can mean, I would like to offer up my own personal definition of love. 

Love. (n) A force that humans will never be able to fully understand but that will continue to bind and unify us as a humanity. (And us as children of God, as members of His body.)

And now to flip the coin. Along with the ability to love comes the ability to hurt. I know this is something we don't like to focus on, especially in church services. And it's not just an issue with other people; we also have the capability to hurt God. 

In Ephesians 4, Paul writes that the church can "grieve the Holy Spirit." He then lists out some ways this happens. I'll let you open up your Bible to read more. Since this post is about love, I want to focus on that, but I did want to just shed some light on the fact that love is powerful. And so is a lack of love. But that's where forgiveness and grace come into play.

So then, what is love? 

Is it what we see in those romantic Nicholas Sparks novels? Is it what we watch in those ridiculously addicting Hallmark movies? Is it what we feel when that cute guy/girl in class glances over at us? Is it what we taste just after we order two scoops of our favorite flavor of ice cream?

What is love?

God. He is the perfect definition of love. God is love. The answer is right in front of us.

1 John 4:8

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Life Update: So I ended our post last time with the zoo trip. Well, last Tuesday was New Year's Eve, so we had a bonfire and toasted to 2014 with our lovely sparkling cider. The night's festivities were followed by a wonderful Wednesday in Charleston. (Yes, we did get in the freezing water at Isle of Palms. No, it wasn't a smart decision. Would I do it again? Probably.) Here are some lovely pics:

[left to right] Me, the Madre, and Lauren at Isle of Palms

Charleston Time!

Lauren Modeling in Charleston

I hung out with the family and some friends Thursday, Friday, and Saturday to conclude the break. We took a trip to the mall and had some fun game nights!

I drove back up to Athens on Sunday, and my mom came up here to go to church with me. After church, we drove through the older part of a cemetery here in Athens so I could get some pictures with the fog around. I spent the rest of the day unpacking and mentally preparing myself for classes starting on Monday. (And partially praying for it to snow and for classes to get cancelled...which, by the way didn't happen. They sent us an e-mail.)

Yesterday, Monday, officially kicked off the beginning of the semester. It's going to be a crazy busy one. Goodbye world, hello notes and textbooks for the next several months. I'm going to have to remember to try and have a life outside of all these articles and papers and studying. And try not to freeze with all these single-digit temperatures - so not used to this!

Today, I slept in...cause I can on Tuesday...and cause it's currently like 9 or 13 or something like that outside! I'm about to head to my first class at 2, but then I have to work until 10 afterwards, so here goes the day...

Cheers!

Megan

Video of the Week: Kristian Stanfill - "One Thing Remains" 

[FYI - In case you didn't notice, I'm changing up the blog "format" / "template" to make more sense, I think.]