Reclaiming Love: Love Gives

What is love?

God defines love. We do not; our culture does not.
God loves: God genuinely seeks the good of others and gives of Himself for their good.
As God’s people, we love: we genuinely seek the good of others and give ourselves for their good.
Love is diffusive, expansive.
What does love look like?
Love is a universal truth, rooted in the nature of God.

Love always happens in a setting.
Particular expressions of love vary to meet the needs of the context.
What does it mean that love is self-giving?
Before there can be love, there must be death to self.   John Piper
Differences are not the end of love; they are the occasion for love.     Francis Schaeffer
One reason it’s so easy to walk away from a difference instead of working it out is that you don’t have to die to self.   John Piper
How is love both self-giving to others and life-giving to us?
The way of love is the way of the cross, which is the way of life.