If you've been in our youth group for very long at all, you've heard me address one of my real pet-peeves...Presuppositional Romance. That's my fancy, made-up term for what many of us mistake for love. Yes...I did say "us". It's become a real soap-box issue for me primarily because I fell victim to the whole thing when I was young...not that I'm old now...of course.
So here's my beef...we are bombarded throughout the day with the absolute worst representations of true love one could imagine. The primary culprit...TV. Also in the line-up, movies, magazines, romance novels, friends at school, internet, etc. Think just a minute about how they describe love.
We're led to believe that love is some "all-powerful" force that transcends any circumstance, any roadblock, any hurdle that may present itself. We're convinced that love manifests itself as "warm-fuzzy" feelings that others just can't understand..."it just can't be described." Because of it's nature, "love is totally outside of our control. We have no control over who we 'fall in love' with, or when it starts to happen." The obvious conclusion from this viewpoint;
we can't possibly be held responsible for our actions that are derived from our love.
The same logic naturally flows into the whole concept of "falling out of love." How can we control the fact that we no longer love this person? Maybe you've heard the classic TV line that says something like "How can I stay with him? I just don't love him anymore."
So here's the issue...What is Love? How
should it be defined? Don't just give your opinion...I want chapter and verse. How does God define (or show) love?
“...and let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works.” Hebrews 10:24
