By Jesabel Rivera-Guerra, guest writer
A few years ago, back in 2021, my answer would have been that love was simply a feeling. However, one day, mired in COVID-19 fatigue, confinement, and the need to show compassion to others, I stopped experiencing what I thought was love. I didn’t feel love for my neighbor, for my loved ones, not even for myself. The feeling faded. Neither the romantic songs that I enjoyed so much, nor the movies, nor even helping others, which used to fill me with joy, could rekindle that feeling.
At a crucial moment, the notification on my cell phone reminded me of a Bible verse in 1 Corinthians 13:1: “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal!” And that’s how I felt, like an out of tune bell.
This chapter, known to many at wedding celebrations, describes love as Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
In my skepticism, I came to ask myself: “Who can have so much patience to love that way?” However, soon after, I fell into a deep depression, an experience that not even the most beautiful landscape could cure. That’s when I truly understood what love is.
My husband was by my side, suffering with me, enduring everything, believing in me, and waiting for me. Raised in a family with strong Christian values, he prayed for me, shared Bible verses, and did everything he could to get me out of that dark state.
A new notification on my cell phone caught my attention. This time, it was 1 Corinthians 13:13: “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” At that moment, I felt an answer in my heart: “Love is a decision.” These words electrified my heart and revived it.
Thus began my healing process. First, I had to unlearn my limited conception of love, that romanticized idea seen in movies and heard in songs. Then, I discovered that I was already loved. Sometimes, we have love in front of us, but we do not recognize it until we understand the love of God, who designed us and knows us from our mothers’ wombs. Finally, I understood that our human love has a limit and we need an infinite source.
The world needs a lot of love, patience, and compassion. When we love only with our strength, our love is limited and exhausts itself. But God is love, an infinite source according to Galatians 5:22-23. We need to go to Him at all times to access His perfect love, as described in 1 Corinthians 13.
If you asked me today, “What is love?”, I would answer that love is a decision. It is the decision to believe that, because God loves me, imperfect as I am, I can love and turn to Him to access His perfect love and share it with others.
This is my Christian perspective on love. How about you, what would the answer be if someone asked you, “What is love?”
Jesabel Rivera-Guerra and her husband Eddie Guerra lead the Spanish group “Learning to Follow Jesus” as part of Riverside Community Church in Oakmont. For more information, visit https://riversideconnect.org/.
