How To Spell LOVE

How do we spell ‘LOVE’?

Love. It’s both noun and action.

• Do you feel the love? Noun.
• I will love you forever. Verb.

One of the greatest “love” verses of all time tells of the greatest action by the One who loves us the greatest.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16 ESV).

I just love… love. 

More, I am grateful for God’s love, made tangible by His Son—God made flesh. But with this love comes a mandate.

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another (John 13:34-35 NIV).

If love’s a verb, then what does it look like when put in action?

In other words, how does one spell this 4-letter word, not when love’s being but, rather, when love’s doing? How about putting love in action with three different 4-letter words—look, hear, and pray.

Love Spelled L-O-O-K

Consider look synonymous with see. To recognize. Know.

Is there anything more satisfying with regard to relationships than being seen? Truly known by another, be it a spouse, child, parent or friend?

Hagar, the maidservant of Abram’s wife Sarai, fled into the wilderness, distraught and in despair. Far from her Egyptian family and estranged from Sarai due to carrying Abram’s child, she felt alone. Afraid.

But it was there God met her, then spoke to her. Yes, He saw her. And Hagar, perhaps for the first time in her life, felt truly known. As scripture tells us—

She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” (Genesis 16:13 NIV).

How about us?

How can we love like the Lord by seeing—truly knowing and recognizing—others? No doubt, in our hurried lives it takes intentionality. And how do we know who to see? In other words, who are we to get to know intentionally?

This spelling of love requires prayer. Ask the One who sees and knows every heart to guide us in our relationships that we might better l-o-o-k—yes, love—like Him.

Love Spelled H-E-A-R

In keeping with four letters, we love others when we hear them. That is, when we listen.

Have you ever shared something with someone? Then, after spilling your heart, he or she asks you, “So, did you…?”—that which you’d just finished sharing. And you knew. The person really hadn’t heard you. He or she wasn’t listening.

Honestly, how did that make you feel?

Consider the love Jesus demonstrated when he heard the Samaritan woman at the well. According to Jewish customs, not only should our Savior not have spoken with a Samaritan, Jesus shouldn’t have conversed with a woman in this manner. It just wasn’t right.

But God’s Son often went against rules of the times to do that which was righteous, and his interaction with this hurting woman is no exception. In the moments he spent with her, he listened to her heart and, in turn, her heart was changed.

Still, it wasn’t just her heart. As John’s gospel affirms—

Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did”… They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world” (4:39, 42 NIV).

Did you catch that?

Because of the woman’s testimony. Jesus listened to her and she, in turn, shared. Those who listened to her—and, eventually, Jesus—believed too… because they heard.

What a beautiful love cycle! Pray and ask the Lord to create in you a listening heart—one intentionally engaged with others in a manner that cyclically spills over, resulting in changed lives through the power of testimony.

Love Spelled P-R-A-Y

The very best way to love another is this 4-letter action—that which we too often take for granted. What’s the saying? Prayer—it’s the very least and the very most we can do for another.

How true. And Jesus set the standard for this particular love in action, teaching us—

This, then, is how you should pray: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name…” (Matthew 6:9 NIV).

As we come to our gracious, merciful Father with an earnest desire to love others well, acknowledging He—in His holiness—knows all and loves all perfectly, we rest assured. He will guide us to love like Him.

 And what could be better, friends? More loving?

To love like Jesus—the One who sees, hears, and prays—is the perfect way to love others, today and always…

Amen!

Kind Father, help us love like You–by seeing, hearing, and praying for others, that they might know You better. All for Your glory and Your kingdom’s sake, amen!