What’s love got to do with it? Some of you may remember when rocker Tina Turner asked that question in her iconic hit song of the same title in the mid-80s. So, what DOES love got to do with it?
Casts Out Fear
When fear enters in, 1 John 4:18, tells us, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear…” This verse is one of the more well known by many Christians, including me. However, the full impact hit me when I unexpectedly made a three-hour, midnight run to be with a hurting family member who had been dealt a heavy emotional hit.
I don’t ever relish the thought of driving at night and avoid it like the plague. However, despite my long-time anxiety, I found myself driving in the darkest of dark. Love literally drove me. I HAD to get there. As my headlights pierced the blanket of black settled over the interstate, I gripped the steering wheel with a divine confidence. I wasn’t dwelling on my fear — all I could think about was reaching my loved one. Prayers and praises wafted toward heaven during my journey. It was powerful, and that night, I lived love not fear.
The Greatest of All
1 Corinthians 13:13 says of faith, hope, and love that, “the greatest of these is love.” Love is a powerful thing. It crosses oceans. It heals broken people physically and mentally. It causes husbands to protect, and when necessary, give their lives for their families. Love compels service men to hurl themselves on live grenades to save their brothers. Love is the heart that beats a mother’s sacrifice for her children. Love is devotion. Love breeds kindness, and love puts others first. What else elicit such responses?
Love nailed Jesus to the to the cross . . . for sinful you and sinful me! When we love Jesus, we honor God and learn to shower pure love on others.
Grows Cold
There aren’t many who would call Tina Turner a prophetess, but in a way, the lyrics of her pop-culture hit have proven prophetic:
“What’s love got to do with it, What’s love but a a second-hand emotion”
The definition of second-hand carries with it not being an original, or something that one has not directly experienced. In Matthew 24 Jesus is telling his disciples about the His Second Coming and the end of the age. In verse 12 Jesus specifically says, “And because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold.”
What is it today that causes a mother to kick her child to death? It ain’t love. What causes people to abuse animals? It ain’t love. What causes leaders to lord their position over those they are commissioned to lead? You guessed it, it ain’t love! What causes groups to bury explosives in the ground with the purpose of maiming and killing? What drives people to exploit the most helpless among us? Why do those with power keep food from the starving? IT AIN’T LOVE!! In the absence of love there is greed, abuse of power, hate, abuse, conceit, slander, and the list goes on and on. It seems as though love is growing exponentially cold these days.
Love
So, what does LOVE have to do with it? Everything!!!
Did you ever ponder the most unlovable around us? Those who have only experienced love as a “second-hand emotion” are emotionally crippled and vulnerable to the exact opposite OF love . . . hate. Love is growing cold around the globe these days, and I’ll admit that I don’t find it easy to love or pray for those who do hateful things. But, love is powerful. It doesn’t mean we have to buddy-up with or rub elbows with those whose expressed mission is to perpetrate hate and harm. Love doesn’t negate consequences for those who do terrible things because hate has dominion over them. But, it does mean that God’s people can show a loving attitude to those we encounter in everyday life, even if they are unlovable. Love shares a kind word or smile, and compels us pray for those we cannot relate to. Love is a call to action.
You never know what pure love can do a cold heart in the span of an instant. Pure love opens a door that God can walk through. Love can penetrate the heart of someone sitting in jail, convicted of a crime. Where there is remorse, there is opportunity for love to infiltrate. Let YOUR love be a portal by which God can move into and change hearts. Love impacts people’s lives in amazing ways when we tap into its power and allow people to experience it first hand.
Love has everything to do with it!
©2014 Shona Neff
