What’s in a Word?

For God so loved the world… John 3:16

Love is an amazing word, but it’s also a fickle word. Overused, overemphasized, misused, mistreated, misinterpreted. We love our spouses and children; but we also love baseball, ice cream, and a good joke. Love has so many levels and layers that it should have been replaced by now.

It’s a simple expression that we sometimes make out of habit. When I leave the house in the morning I always try to remember to tell my wife I love her. If my children or grandchildren are there, I make a point to tell them, too. But what good would those three words be if I didn’t also show them that I deeply love and cherish them?

Over a quarter century of marriage, job changes, moving, raising children, taking care of parents, illness and doctors, graduations and grandkids, school and church, vacations and summer at the swimming pool, meals around the table, coming and going—and that simple, four letter word pops up each and every day - “love”—a quick reminder that voices the deepest of concerns, the greatest of commitments, the joy and pleasure and heartache and twists and turns of life that is worth living. Out of love, because of love, in giving love and receiving love. It tries to encapsulate all of our positive longings, motivations, and feelings in just four letters. “Love” hardly seems like a word up to the task.

And what about God’s love? An infinite Being of infinite love, Who decided to show us how much love He was capable of when He sent Jesus to the cross for us. He loves His Son. He loves us, too. And though His action was the most loving of all time, it still doesn’t fully encompass the great, deep, wide, unfathomable love that God is capable of. And as we come know that love, more and more each day, He continuously shows us that His love is great all the more, and even more, and even more.

What’s in a word? Love may be the most grand of all words. Certainly it ranks the very best of the one-syllable words. It is both a noun and a verb. We have love; and we give love. It is the most worthy of words to pursue. What’s in a word? When it comes to the word “love,” well, everything.

God, I am reminded today of Your great gift of love. Help me to love others as You have loved me. Help me daily to be loving toward my family, my friends, and my coworkers. Thank you for the love You have shown me through Your Son, Jesus. In Jesus’ name, amen.