There is no use denying that that feelings are involved when we talk about love.
February 14 is a day when people put in a little extra attention to those feelings and line up some kind of way to express them. Pastors and preachers are often guilty of railing against this loving feeling. We bring in Greek words like “Agape” and “Eros” and try and press against the culture. I’ll admit that I’ve done it myself, yet even the bible grants room for feelings within the boundaries of love.
The Song of Songs is a small biblical book that gives voice and credence to the rightful place of passion within love. Most of the church’s push back against romance and passion has to do with the imbalance that is perceived. When culture places too high a value on feelings and passions the preacher rightly calls the people back to commitment and honour and duty. There is a distinct hollowness to a romantic expression from a partner who has forsaken duty and honour the day prior and will likely forsake it the day after, so while love is most certainly a feeling, it is only one element of the larger picture for which we long - true love.
The bible may not be rife with teaching on romance, but it is large on true love. It is proclaimed as that which we see in the Father and in the Son. A love that feels so deeply that it makes God weep in betrayal and burst forth into joy in restoration. But more importantly, a love so powerful that it moves them into self-sacrificial action.
The Father gives up his greatest treasure and the Son yields his status and rights motivated only by true love. Feelings are a part of love but they do not take the lead.
Perhaps this is a good time to review 1 Corinthians 13. This weekend let us use the romantic occasion to push us deeper into true love.
