If Wisdom be the Food of Love...

Our world doesn’t usually equate love with wisdom.  Love makes us fools.  But a lot of that has to do with the fact that our world defines love based on feelings and emotions; not commitments or choices.  The world would have you believe that we don’t choose to fall in love.  We have no say in who we are attracted to and why; it is a chemical mystery.  I don’t agree.

Love doesn’t start with emotions.  Love starts with a choice.  I am madly, head-over-heels in love with my children.  Unconditional love.  And I chose it.  I chose them when I became pregnant and when I carried them in my womb until they were ready to be born.  I truly love my husband.  The night we met I thought he had a great smile (still does) and he could dance, but those things didn’t create an irresistible emotion that I couldn’t fight.  I choose to commit myself to him for a number of reasons, and I am very glad I did.

Wisdom and love go extremely well together.  Wisdom gives us perspective in love.  It helps us to see the choices and to love well.  I can love someone poorly.  Enmeshment, co-dependence, promiscuity, abusive relationships.  All these are examples of love without wisdom.  God is all loving.  God is all knowing. (He is all powerful too, but that is another post on another day.) Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love (I John 4:7-9).  God is holy, righteous, merciful, … and love.

In the Bible, you can find plenty of examples of wise and unwise ways to love.  For practicality let’s stick with the examples of God’s love for us. 

Because God loves us:

• He disciples us (Proverbs 3:11-12 if you don’t believe disciple comes from love)
• He protects us
• He allows us free will
• He sacrifices for us
• He forgives and has mercy on us through Christ

Love makes us into fools?  Well, the world was told that the wisdom of God would seem foolish to those who chose not to believe.  God is love.  I chose God.

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:7-9

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’
Matthew 22:36-38