Sunday evening at Hopewell Mennonite Church was “impromptu” for the first hour of the service.

I was called on to answer the question “What is love?” Briefly. Say in 2-3 minutes.

So ten minutes later (give or take two), the moderator called me forward to speak my piece.

Love is the capacity to live for the good of another.

A measure of this has been given to all people. Back before creating man, God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness” (Genesis 1:26).

And in 1 John 4:10 we’re reminded of God’s own demonstration of love: “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”

There’s your answer to what love is.

God calls us to that.

And from Creation He stamped us with His image…and so gave us the capacity to live for the good of another.

(If I talked for more than two minutes, it wasn’t by much. But then, I was supposed to be super brief. And I had little advance warning. And my head wasn’t feeling well at all. Upshot: Thank God for His help.)

2 thoughts on “What Is Love?

  1. That is a wonderful definition. It will become my new favorite, replacing “doing what is best for others.” They both focus on actions not feelings, but yours says it better, I think. Thank you for sharing it.

Surely you could add something...