Apparently, meaning is in the hearer or recipient of a message and not so much in the message itself. Simply put, we interpret reality on the basis of our own personal experiences. What we already know shapes our interpretation/understanding of new concepts and experiences. We define the new in terms of the old. I submit that the foregoing poses serious problem for our understanding of love.
The Bible says God is love (1Jn. 4:8); the verse states, “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” In other words, it is impossible to know God and not become a loving person. Here knowledge has the meaning of personal experience or life-changing encounter with God which is more than abstract knowledge about God (theology).
The problem is what comes to the mind of someone reading or hearing the statement “God is love”. I first thought that the verse makes the assumption that we all know what love is, then I realised that this must not be the case. See, it is likely that we all have a different understanding of love based on our personal experiences. Hence, there are many peoples out there who would argue against the suggestion that God is love.
For example, Muslims often ask: “what kind of father would allow the son whom he loves to die on a cross?”. I am sure many of us have come across intelligent individuals struggling to make sense of the statement “God is love” after reading the Old Testament, for example. For them the God of the Old Testament must be different from the God of the New Testament, but is it so?
I believe that the statement “God is love” challenges us to not interpret love according to our own personal experiences but rather according to the revelation of God or how God has manifested himself to the world (us).
As we do so we begin to learn, for instance, that it is true that love is slow to anger, but rich in mercy, and, it is also true that love does get angry and pour out his wrath out in judgement…, love does not compromise with evil because it (evil) destroys the work of God (human beings, us). We learn that the flood, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, the exiles of Judah and Israel, even the Cross of Calvary, are all the expression of the love of God. We learn that when God disciplines or chastises us it is because he loves us. We learn that God’s denying us his presence and rejecting our sacrifices are acts of his love….
As we reflect on God’s revelation with humility in our hearts, we can but conclude that his judgments are redemptive, for our (humanity) good -that is, they are meant to set free from evil and release the creative potential for good.
Needless to say, such an understanding of love frees us from becoming victims of manipulations, often from Satan the evil one, and compromising with evil so that we could say no when necessary and refuse to be a party to anything that we know would be detrimental to our loved ones if entertained (in the long run).
May the Lord help us truly understand the redemptive (liberating) power and nature of love, in Jesus Christ’s name!
