There
seems to be a great deal of confusion lately about what love is and what love
isn't. This might be because people are fairly liberal with the
use of the word, love. I say, "I love my wife.", "I love
chocolate cake." and, "I love the OKC Thunder." While each of
these statements are true, they should have a slightly different meaning for
the word, love. So, it is important that we understand what true love really
is. Here are some tests to help determine if love is true love or not.
5
Tests of True Love
1. True love cannot be hidden, it will be
displayed. Love will be on display for all the world to
see and proud of it. When my wife and I got married, we held our ceremony in a
public place and gladly invited our friends and family. To this day I proudly
wear the same ring she gave me on that day. This is just an example of love on
display.
2. True love has only one standard, total
sacrifice. The one standard for love is total sacrifice. This example
and standard was set for the world to see when Jesus willingly gave himself on
a cruel cross. This standard is still the expectation of those who follow Jesus
and is the true standard for love to this day.
3. True love can be confirmed, by actions. It is
one thing to say, “I love you.” In fact, that is a pretty simple and basic
thing to do. However, it is a completely different thing to show, “I love you.”
From a very early age children in healthy homes learn to say, “I love you.”
That doesn’t mean they know how to show love. It takes a mature and truly
loving person to show love.
4. True love begins with the keeping of God’s
commands. The place to start when you have a desire to truly love, is
to show you love God by keeping His commands. Jesus even told us this when he
said the two greatest commands were to love God and love people. The truth is,
you can’t truly love people until you have first learned to love God.
5. True love is only possible through a right
relationship with God. People are not capable of loving
unconditionally by their own power. We, by nature, are too selfish. When we
learn to allow God to love through us, then we can display true love. The Bible
said it best, “we are able to love because He first loved us.” God loved us by
sending Jesus to die in our place. That is true love!
