What the World Needs Now
The topic for last week was about helping. There are so many people in the world who need help. I closed with a promise that this week we would deal with the matter of love. I asked you to write down your definition of love. Did you have a chance to do that?
In the 1960s, Jackie DeShannon recorded a song entitled “What the World Needs Now.” Some of you could sing that song from memory. The first line goes like this. “What the world needs now is love, sweet love. It's the only thing that there's just too little of. What the world needs now is love, sweet love. No not just for some, but for everyone.” That sounds like words that ought to be in the Bible.
For sure, our world needs a lot of love. There is so much anger, disappointment, sadness, and depression. People need a lot of love.
So, did you come up with a definition? Webster defines love as "strong affection or attachment or devotion to a person or persons." If you were to take a clipboard and stake out a place to take surveys, it would be quite interesting how people define love. Most people would probably say something like – “getting my needs met” or “someone taking care of me.”
When I am meeting with a couple planning on getting married, I always ask them to define love. Without fail, there is a pause. They are probably thinking, “what answer is he looking for?” So, here is my definition. "Love is giving a person what they need."
We get that definition right out of the Bible. In 1 John 4:19 John says, "We love him, (God) because He first loved us." Then in John 3:16 we find those familiar words which say, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."
Those verses mean God loves you and me. He even loves people who do not love Him. It is what we call the unconditional love of God. The reason why I define love in that way is because God gave us what we needed. We needed a Savior to take care of our sin and our sins and He sent Jesus to take care of them for us.
If love is giving a person what they need, then the next logical question is “What do your loved ones, friends, and neighbors need? Be sure to take note the word "need" not want.
The sad truth is many times people do not think of love in that way. Due to isolation and other factors, most of us do not know our family members and friends well enough to know what their needs are. Think of some special ways you can express genuine love to someone you love today. Take care!
