Monday, April 26, 2004
thanks Dre
"Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him." 1 John 4:16
"lives in love..."
Isn't it everyone's dream to be in love? I know it's every girl's dream--to be in love and to have someone be in love with you. The bliss, the rush, the peace mingled with exhilaration. Now, I, perhaps more than anyone, appreciate the versatility of the English language and the many different meanings of words, but it seems that "love" and "in love" are ones that have been too diluted, tossed around a bit too flippantly (as is obvious even on my own blog).
I fell in love this weekend....with an island and an apartment. Although they were both magnificent, I'm not sure they deserve a word of that strength (they might. they were absolutely fantastic, but it remains to be seen).
I'm in love with the weather man. I'm not really. I just like to watch him forecast. I think he's precious.
Someone is in love with me. I don't know if he really is. What a dangerous thing to say!
It's no wonder that for years (and especially within the last month or so) I've been reading this verse over and over again and having a wretchedly difficult time defining what in the world it means to "live in love." Well, it could go two ways depending on how closely we tie together the words "in" and "love" (linguistic analysis, here we come). If we use it purely as a modifying preposition (so as to be able to substitute anything for "love" like "live in New York" or "live in my favorite jeans"), then living in love makes love your constant surroundings. Everywhere you go, love is there, all around you. I like Michael Yaconelli's description of God's love:
"He loves us when we don't want him to love us. He loves us when we don't act like Christians. He loves us when our lives are a mess. His love is sticky, resistant to rejection, aggresive, and persistent."
I think that's the gift that God gives us.
But there's another half to it, another way of reading it that shows us our part in all this. This is the romantic part. The other way to tie together the words "in" and "love" is as in the phrase, "in love." Here, they are inseparable. I can't say I'm "in New York with this new apartment" and have it mean the same thing as "in love with this new apartment." In this case, to "live in love" implies being in love WITH something or someone.
"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and, Love your neighbor as yourself." Luke 10:27
"This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us." 1 John 4:10-12
Here, love is our choice. It is an act of the will. It is, first and foremost, living in God's love, accepting it, soaking it up, simmering in it (if you will) so as to allow it to permeate every aspect of our being. It is allowing God to be in love with you. That's really the exciting part about being in love, isn't it? Not that we love this other person, but that (oh man!!) HE LOVES ME! We can't believe it. It's just so surreal. He LOVES me?!?! YES!!! Score!
But if you've ever not loved someone who was in love with you, you know how little fun that is. I can't tell you how many times in college I said, "I just want to like someone and have him like me back at the same time." It takes both halves to make love a good thing.
So to live in love means to live, loving unabashedly a God who is crazy in love with you, and to allow this love relationship to affect your relationships with others.
God forgive me for loving too easily. May I never use that word in vain again.
"lives in love..."
Isn't it everyone's dream to be in love? I know it's every girl's dream--to be in love and to have someone be in love with you. The bliss, the rush, the peace mingled with exhilaration. Now, I, perhaps more than anyone, appreciate the versatility of the English language and the many different meanings of words, but it seems that "love" and "in love" are ones that have been too diluted, tossed around a bit too flippantly (as is obvious even on my own blog).
I fell in love this weekend....with an island and an apartment. Although they were both magnificent, I'm not sure they deserve a word of that strength (they might. they were absolutely fantastic, but it remains to be seen).
I'm in love with the weather man. I'm not really. I just like to watch him forecast. I think he's precious.
Someone is in love with me. I don't know if he really is. What a dangerous thing to say!
It's no wonder that for years (and especially within the last month or so) I've been reading this verse over and over again and having a wretchedly difficult time defining what in the world it means to "live in love." Well, it could go two ways depending on how closely we tie together the words "in" and "love" (linguistic analysis, here we come). If we use it purely as a modifying preposition (so as to be able to substitute anything for "love" like "live in New York" or "live in my favorite jeans"), then living in love makes love your constant surroundings. Everywhere you go, love is there, all around you. I like Michael Yaconelli's description of God's love:
"He loves us when we don't want him to love us. He loves us when we don't act like Christians. He loves us when our lives are a mess. His love is sticky, resistant to rejection, aggresive, and persistent."
I think that's the gift that God gives us.
But there's another half to it, another way of reading it that shows us our part in all this. This is the romantic part. The other way to tie together the words "in" and "love" is as in the phrase, "in love." Here, they are inseparable. I can't say I'm "in New York with this new apartment" and have it mean the same thing as "in love with this new apartment." In this case, to "live in love" implies being in love WITH something or someone.
"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and, Love your neighbor as yourself." Luke 10:27
"This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us." 1 John 4:10-12
Here, love is our choice. It is an act of the will. It is, first and foremost, living in God's love, accepting it, soaking it up, simmering in it (if you will) so as to allow it to permeate every aspect of our being. It is allowing God to be in love with you. That's really the exciting part about being in love, isn't it? Not that we love this other person, but that (oh man!!) HE LOVES ME! We can't believe it. It's just so surreal. He LOVES me?!?! YES!!! Score!
But if you've ever not loved someone who was in love with you, you know how little fun that is. I can't tell you how many times in college I said, "I just want to like someone and have him like me back at the same time." It takes both halves to make love a good thing.
So to live in love means to live, loving unabashedly a God who is crazy in love with you, and to allow this love relationship to affect your relationships with others.
God forgive me for loving too easily. May I never use that word in vain again.