What is love?

Recently I have been listening to a series of sermons by Art Azurdia on 1 Corinthians 13. I would highly recommend them to anyone (the url is: http://www.spiritempoweredpreaching.com/sermons.htm, a total of seven sermons).

Some points that were well made are worth sharing I think. Of course there are many, many more points that he makes, but these in particular stuck out to me. The first is that without love, theology doesn't matter. Not only that, but good works don't matter and faith doesn't matter. Nothing else matters (1 Corinthians 13:1-3). Related to this is the passage where we are commanded to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15). We cannot merely condemn the unrighteous acts of others or speak of what is good without showing God's love to them. Those who carry signs that say "Gays go to hell," or who in their heart look down on the "lowlifes" in society are not loving them, but judging them, forgetting that it is only by grace that we ourselves are not like that. Even if the statement is true (those who practice homosexuality and are unrepentant will be punished eternally) does not change the fact that God loves them and we should be willing to meet their needs of being lonely, rejected, and isolated from society.

In the main text of his series, where love starts to be defined extensively ("Love is patient, and kind..."), Azurdia first defines patience. "It's not waiting in line at the DMV," he says, "it's choosing not to retaliate when someone wrongs you." And as if that's not hard enough, he goes on to say that patience does not retaliate even if you are wronged over and over again. That's the inward expression of biblical love.
Kindness on the other hand refers to being useful, which is the outward expression of love. It tries to help people in ways that really do benefit them, not just with spiritual needs, but physical needs also. So love is not merely just abstaining from retaliating when someone offends you, but also looking for ways to serve that person in the midst of being offended. In addition, Christians should not be doing random acts of kindness, like the bumper sticker says. Rather, kindness should always be practiced by believers.
Skipping love not envying, "love does not boast"simply refers to our speech. This is not as hard, he argues, because nobody likes to hear someone who only talks about himself/herself. Even unbelievers think this is socially unbecoming of someone. Being arrogant on the other hand, is the boasting of the heart. This is the root of boasting outwardly. It's easier to mow the weeds than pull them out by the root. This we must be particularly careful of. No one see it that well except God, so if we are only concerned with what other people think and not what God requires of us, this characteristic of love will be neglected, and we will soon be falling short of his standard for us (John 13:34).
As mentioned already there are many other points that he makes, but this is enough to practice. On our own though, we cannot reach these standards. We naturally retaliate when wronged, like to focus on our successes (at least inwardly), and rely on our own strength to get through life. Only the changing power of the indwelling Holy Spirit and the realization of our own depravity can cause us to love one another. Anyone who does not have Christ within him will not be able to love in the biblical sense, which is just one reason why it is so important to be reconciled to God (2 Corinthians 5:17-21).