Love is a Verb

The commandments, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ Do not covet,’ and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule:  ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  Love does no harm to its neighbor.  Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.  Romans 13:9-10

From Guest Blogger Dan Thews:

A few years back I thought I’d have some fun with a couple I was performing the wedding ceremony for. During the homily I pulled out a microphone and asked the groom, “What is love?” He just stared at me with this panicked look on his face totally befuddled and suddenly unable to speak! Getting nothing from the Groom, I asked the Bride the same question, “What is love? Her answer was priceless, “Being willing to marry him even though he couldn’t answer that question!”

How would you answer? What is love???

One of my favorite songs is by D.C. Talk, called Love is a Verb. The song reminds us that Biblical love is not something that just happens to you but it is something you do. This is what Paul is talking about in Romans 13:9-10. There is no doubt that love has its romantic and its sentimental aspects, but the love of which St. Paul speaks is a choice to act in a certain way, not necessarily because of romantic, sentimental feelings, but simply because it is the right and God-pleasing thing to do.

Then Paul gives some specific examples. To love, he says, means to refuse acts of adultery because they are unloving by nature. They show total lack of concern for the marriage partner, no respect for the sexual partner, and complete lack of restraint and discipline. He goes on to say the same for murder, stealing, coveting or whatever other laws there may be. Love is a verb. It is active, not just a feeling. Love is evidenced, not in what you feel or in what you say, but in what you do or don’t do.

In fact, Paul says that all the moral laws are satisfied when we act and love our neighbors. He reminds us that love is to be shown, first to God and then to the neighbor; and when that happens there is no need for the law.

How might you show love today — in your family, your workplace, your school, or your neighborhood? Imagine a world where we all remember that love is a verb!

Prayer: Father, thank you for not just saying that You love us, but showing it in your Son Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. Help us make love an active verb in our lives too, in Jesus’ name. Amen.


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