love.

The only reason that we can truly love God is because he has given us the ability to not love him. 

Without the choice to turn our backs, there can be no love in us following him. 

So then it becomes very obvious then, that love is a choice. It is not a feeling, but instead, consistent decisions of sacrifice that are possible only in light of something greater and more worthy than oneself. 

This is the same for every kind of love. 

I think one tough question in light of this would then be, "Can two people be in love if they are not following Christ?" I would say that love can never be complete without Jesus Christ. I do think that many non Christ followers are in many ways loving to each other, and live lives of sacrifice to each other. 

But the last thing I would want is to try to be sensitive and say things that are not true. I think that  sensitivity and fear are crippling our ability to convey the power of the gospel. Christians are growing up in classrooms where every word must walk over egg-shells just to make its point. The lack of truth and facts in the new subjects and ideas being taught has led to textbooks that are just filled with made up words and concepts that float around and can never land firmly. This is not us. This is not the gospel. 

We hold onto something that is real, that doesn't need the most elaborate thesaurus to describe it. Those who promote the new ways of thinking and their "superior" observations of our universe are filled with pride as they live lives to continually build their case for something that is void in their hearts. They cannot simplify it because it is not truth. Their constructions of thoughts must constantly explain themselves because their building materials are not solid. That is not us. That is not the gospel. 

So to go back to the idea of love outside of Jesus Christ, I would say that as Christians we must never back down from the truth. It is not our job to judge others, but we must never believe that a heart can find rest outside of Jesus Christ living in it. We should never apologize for refusing to believe that a life outside of God's forgiveness can offer peace and rest to a soul. It is not insensitivity, it is truth. We should not live our lives on the defensive, being careful not to offend anyone, or make anyone uncomfortable. Those who are uncomfortable in hearing the truth have far bigger problems than their feelings in that moment. And truth is the only step towards healing the root of their void. The pain of hitting the core of an unbelieving heart will always be more valuable than feelings from flattery that barely scratch the surface. 

So then, finally, is true love possible only in view of the greater glory of Christ? I would say yes. I believe that truly loving someone, pure sacrifice with pure motives, is possible only when we are lacking in nothing. True love is when our actions are not out of our own need, but out of the overflow of Jesus. When we lack in nothing and are filled so full with Jesus that he simply cannot fit inside just our hearts, there is an overflow. That is love.