The Meaning of Love (Part 2)

Here is a rub:  our "love-understanding" and "love-capacity" are developmental. We all experience people from childhood to adulthood who teach us about what love is. Rightly or wrongly, we then learned to perceive the meaning of love in our lives. Out of it we developed a love "unconscious antenna" that automatically guides our thoughts, feelings, and choices.

Unfortunately, for a lot of us, our first experiences with love do not necessarily prepare us to the realization of the true meaning of love. The contemporary images of love are also likely to be narrow and distorted. They are often self-centered and utilitarian. They don't often present love in the long pull.

This is something of what the Apostle Paul must have meant when he penned 1 Corinthians 13. It is the God-kind of love - "agape" - not eros (sexual) or merely "phileo" (friend). It's love that reaches from time to eternity. If we simply believe that because God is love, love can break the otherwise insurmountable barriers or distortions. So, while love seems late, it is never too late. 

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