The World Has Perverted Love

I watched a sermon on YouTube the other day, and the minister asked the men in the audience to stand up. She then instructed them to turn to the gentleman next to them and tell that person, “I love you.”

This request, of course, created awkward laughter throughout the crowd. I don’t think any of the men actually said it. She gave this same instruction a few more times, hoping for a different outcome each time. Still, awkwardness filled the room. Some men might have said it out of pressure, but the hesitation and discomfort were still present.

She asked them, “why can’t you say it?” Is it because you are afraid that it will insinuate that you have some attraction to another man? Are you fearful of how you might look to the person? She asked why it is hard for one man to say to another man, “I love you,” without it feeling awkward or implying some sort of intimate attraction.

This demonstration got me thinking about how the world has perverted love into this uncomfortable, awkward, misguided feeling instead of God’s intentions of love.

God’s intent, “Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.” 1Corinthians 13:4-8 NKJV

God IS love (1John 4:16), and God is not perverted, misguided, uncomfortable, or awkward. God’s love is perfect and complete and whole and pure. God intended for us to “love thy neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:31), so how can we act it out if we can’t utter the words.

Love should be given and received freely. Expressing love verbally or otherwise should not make anyone uncomfortable. Unfortunately, what we as human beings have experienced in this world has now made the expression of love uneasy and maybe even painful. Many people don’t even know how to receive love; verbally or through actions.

1John 4:8 says, “whoever does not love does not know God.” Can these men of God in the audience say they know God if they could not express those three little words to another man of God?

Can you?

Maybe it is the thought of saying the words to a stranger. Is it easier for father and son to say, I love you? Brothers? Male friends? We know men are raised to be tough and not express emotion, making it hard for them to express love. However, I encourage us all not to be shaped by the world’s standard of an acceptable and comfortable manner to express love. I pray that our men of God can study the Word, not the world, to understand God’s true intentions of His love and how it is to be used and expressed in the world.

I encourage our men of God to uproot whatever false ideologies they were raised with and get to know the God who loves you. Get to know how He loves and how He desires you to love. We are His image-bearers, aren’t we? So, let’s bear the image of His love.