Love is patient. Love is kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way. It is not irritable. It keeps no record of wrongs. It does not rejoice in injustice but rejoices in the truth. Love bears all things, trusts all things, hopes for all things, endures all things. Love never fails. (1 Corinthians 13:4-8a, translation my own)
Getting Our Terms Straight
My group of friends once asked Todd to bring "a mix" for our road trip. He showed up with trail mix—cashews and raisins—while we were expecting a playlist. Simple miscommunication, but it highlights something crucial: definitions matter.
When we say "God is love," we're making a pretty big theological claim. But what does that actually mean? If love can mean anything—if it can somehow encompass violence, exclusion, or harm—then we might as well say it means nothing. The word becomes empty, a spiritual platitude that justifies whatever we want it to.
Fortunately, Scripture doesn't leave us guessing.
