What’s Love Got To Do With It?

Back in 1984 Tina Turner released a song titled “What’s Love Got To Do With It.”  It had a catchy rhythm and the title was a hook to get you interested.  However, for the most part, the words are not very uplifting or encouraging when it comes to the idea of love – it is referred to as “a second-hand emotion” and “a sweet old-fashioned notion.”  It basically also refers to love as being the catalyst for the physical attraction that results in a broken heart.  Does not sound very enticing, does it?  Fortunately, there is a better way to view and experience love.  Let’s take a look at 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 (TLB):

“If I had the gift of being able to speak in other languages without learning them and could speak in every language there is in all of heaven and earth, but didn’t love others, I would only be making noise. If I had the gift of prophecy and knew all about what is going to happen in the future, knew everything about everything, but didn’t love others, what good would it do? Even if I had the gift of faith so that I could speak to a mountain and make it move, I would still be worth nothing at all without love. If I gave everything I have to poor people, and if I were burned alive for preaching the Gospel but didn’t love others, it would be of no value whatever.  

“Love is very patient and kind, never jealous or envious, never boastful or proud, never haughty or selfish or rude. Love does not demand its own way. It is not irritable or touchy. It does not hold grudges and will hardly even notice when others do it wrong. It is never glad about injustice, but rejoices whenever truth wins out. If you love someone, you will be loyal to him no matter what the cost. You will always believe in him, always expect the best of him, and always stand your ground in defending him.  All the special gifts and powers from God will someday come to an end, but love goes on forever. 

“Someday prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge—these gifts will disappear. Now we know so little, even with our special gifts, and the preaching of those most gifted is still so poor. But when we have been made perfect and complete, then the need for these inadequate special gifts will come to an end, and they will disappear.  It’s like this: when I was a child I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child does. But when I became a man my thoughts grew far beyond those of my childhood, and now I have put away the childish things. In the same way, we can see and understand only a little about God now, as if we were peering at his reflection in a poor mirror; but someday we are going to see him in his completeness, face-to-face. Now all that I know is hazy and blurred, but then I will see everything clearly, just as clearly as God sees into my heart right now.  There are three things that remain—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.”

So it seems to me that the answer to that question – what’s love got to do with it? is this – EVERYTHING!  Love is the center of everything – it is the hub that holds all of the other good and positive things in life together.  How then can we possibly just blow it off as nothing more than “a second-hand emotion” and “a sweet old-fashioned notion?”  We cannot – or at least we should not!

The last couple of years God has spoken to my heart multiple times about loving others that I just did NOT want to love.  Probably the primary one was my ex-husband.  I had a lot of resentment and bitterness toward him.  I would say to others something like this – “I don’t wish for bad things to happen to him, but honestly I just don’t care.”  Not the best attitude for a Christian; and, some bad things have happened to him.  I would then make comments about karma.  But one day during my prayer time God convicted me of that attitude and told me to start praying for him – AND…his wife.  (This is the woman he was consorting with while we were still married.  I definitely didn’t feel kindly toward her either!)  I absolutely did NOT want to do that!  But, I finally added their names to my prayer list and I do pray for them every day.  It was not easy at first, but now I feel much better about it.

More recently, God has dealt with me about some other people I was coming into contact with on a fairly regular basis.  They had not necessarily done or said anything directly to me that should have caused a big issue, but I just did not care for them and had a bad attitude toward them when they were around.  When the “Big Guy” starts talking to you about your attitude it is time to start taking notice!  I did.  I have worked hard to change my thought process, tried to view them through God’s eyes and heart and have felt a huge change in my acceptance of them.  The love of God can work miracles if we will just be a willing partner.

The apostle Paul wrote the books of 1st & 2nd Corinthians to the church at Corinth because they were “…recklessly sinning….They did a lot of godly things, but without much love.  And without love, godly things aren’t very godly.”*  “…if love isn’t central to our Christian lives, our Christians lives aren’t actually Christian.”*  Those points are impactful!

Here is my challenge to you this week.  Learn to focus on God – where love begins.   Ask Him to fill you to overflowing with His love, that you might have enough of it to pour it into the lives of others – even those you do not like.  We never know when we will be confronted with a situation that can turn a person’s life around, just because we are capable of loving them unconditionally, with the love of God.  

“He who is filled with love is filled with God Himself.”  Augustine

Written by Karran Martin – March 4, 2023

[Bold emphasis mine]

*Quotes from Chris Tiegreen