The "Stuff" of Love

Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. - 1 John 4:10

What is the "stuff" of love?

I guess it depends on who you ask. Someone once said that love is war. Another that love is friendship caught on fire. Still another that love is an invisible, formidable force. One person even said that love is life.

So, what is the "stuff" of love?

John (the apostle who seemed to speak of it most) had his own Holy Spirit-inspired idea. He informed us that love must be defined by the God who created it and displayed it in the intercessory, satisfactory offering of His only Son as the payment for our sin. This is the "stuff" of love. You see, God's righteousness demanded that God's wrath be expended on us and we know that He loved us, because He gave His Son to take that wrath for us.

While love may be many things to many people, it can never be less than complete sacrifice, for God has eternally defined love for us in offering it to us in Christ Jesus.

All my life, my heart has yearned for a thing I cannot name. - Andre Breton