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The Bible teaches that Christians are known by their love, but what does that mean? Is love an action or an emotion? The Bible describes love as both an action and an emotion. God's love for the world is demonstrated through his actions, such as sending his son to die for humanity. Similarly, Jesus showed his love by laying down his life on the cross. However, the Bible also describes love as a feeling. For instance, the apostle Paul writes that even if he gives away all his possessions, without love, his actions are meaningless. Love is a choice, an act of the will, but it is also accompanied by emotions. The Bible acknowledges the importance of emotions, as God created humans with emotions and expresses emotions himself. Thus, biblical love involves both a decision to act lovingly and the emotional aspect of preferring and wanting to do so.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Biblical love is an action | Feeding the poor, giving your body to be burned, laying down your life for your friends |
| Biblical love is an emotion | Joy, trust, affection, longing, sadness, delighting |
| Biblical love is a choice | To do good for another person regardless of what we feel |
| Biblical love is sacrificial | Agape love, God's love |
What You'll Learn
Love is both an action and an emotion
The Bible teaches that Christians are "supposed to be known by [their] love". But what is love? Is it an emotion, or is it an action? The answer is that love is both an action and an emotion.
Love as an action
God demonstrates his love through his actions, such as sending his son to die for the world. Jesus also demonstrated his love by laying down his life on the cross. The Bible is clear that love is not just a feeling, but something that should be translated into action.
Love as an emotion
The Bible also describes love as a feeling. For example, in 1 Corinthians 13:3, the apostle Paul writes, "if I give my body to be burned but have not love, I gain nothing". In other words, actions without love are meaningless. We know that emotions matter to God because he expresses emotion himself, and he created humans with emotions, in his image.
Love as a choice
Love is also a choice. We can choose to allow the Spirit to guide us and to accept and demonstrate God's description of love. We can choose to obey God and follow his commandments, and we can choose to serve him.
Love as an emotion and an action
The Bible acknowledges that love is both an emotion and an action. For example, in John 3:16, God's decision to send his son is a consequence of his emotional feeling of love for humanity.
Love in marriage
In marriage, couples are drawn to one another based on feelings of love. Even if those feelings fade, spouses are expected to act with love towards one another. If those feelings never reappear, it may be a sign that something is wrong.
So, love is both an action and an emotion. It is a choice to do good for another person regardless of how we feel, and it is also the feelings that prompt us to want to take action for the person we love.
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Love is a choice
The Bible teaches that Christians are to be known by their love. But what is love? Is it an emotion, an action, or a choice?
Love as an Action
The Bible describes love as both an action and an emotion. Love is demonstrated in the Bible through God's actions, such as sending His only Son to die for the world (John 3:16). Jesus also showed His love by laying down His life on the cross (John 15:12-13). These actions of love translate into commands for Christians to follow, such as loving one another and laying down their lives for their friends (John 15:12).
Love as an Emotion
The Bible also describes love as a feeling or an emotion. For example, the apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13:3 that even if he gives away all his possessions and his body to be burned, it profits him nothing if he does not have love. Love involves affections such as patience, kindness, and joy, as well as the absence of negative emotions like envy, pride, and anger (1 Corinthians 13:4-7).
Love as a Choice
While love includes emotions and actions, it is also a choice or a decision. This is because, as humans, we are commanded to love even when we don't feel like it. We are called to love our enemies and do good to those who hate us (Matthew 5:44), which is often contrary to our natural inclinations.
Biblical love, or "agape" love, is a choice to do good for another person regardless of our feelings. It is a decision to compassionately pursue the betterment of another. This type of love is sacrificial and is not based on affection or emotion but on the welfare of others.
By choosing to allow the Holy Spirit to guide us, we can successfully demonstrate God's love in our lives and relationships. As we align ourselves with God's will, our emotions and actions will also align with our choice to love.
Therefore, while love includes emotions and actions, it is ultimately a choice that we make to obey God and follow His command to love.
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Love is a decision
The Bible teaches that love is both an action and an emotion. However, some Christians believe that biblical love is not a feeling but a decision or choice.
Biblical Love as a Decision
Biblical love is a choice to do good for another person regardless of how we feel about them. It is a decision to compassionately and righteously pursue the betterment of another person. This is why Christians are called to love their enemies.
As Christians, we are taught to "love your enemies, and do good to those who hate you". It is not easy to do; hating our enemies comes naturally to us because of our evil nature. It is impossible to love our enemies on our own strength; we need the help of the Holy Spirit.
The decision to love your enemies arises from the decision to obey the will of God and the desire to be Christlike. We choose to love our enemies because God first loved us. Jesus said we are to love as He loved us: "God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8 ESV).
Biblical Love as an Emotion
The Bible also describes love as a feeling. The apostle Paul makes this clear in 1 Corinthians 13:3 NKJV: "And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing." In other words, we can do the right thing, but if we are void of love, the action has less meaning for God.
We know emotions matter because God expresses emotion, and He designed us with emotions, in His image. Feelings are a means of connecting with God and with others. They can be motivators to do right.
Love as an Action
Whatever else love is, it translates itself into action. Love is not only a feeling; it is also demonstrable through actions.
God demonstrated His love by sending His only Son to die for the world (John 3:16 NKJV). Jesus also demonstrated His love for us by laying down His life on the cross (John 15:12-13 NKJV).
While some Christians believe that biblical love is primarily a decision or choice, the Bible also acknowledges the importance of emotions and feelings in our relationship with God and others. Love is both an action and an emotion, and it is through our actions and emotions that we demonstrate our love for God and others.
Love is sacrificial
The Bible teaches that love is both an action and an emotion. However, the type of love referred to in the Bible is not eros, or romantic love, storge, or familial love, or philia, brotherly or friendly love, but agape—the pure and holy love of God demonstrated by the death of Christ on the cross.
Agape love is sacrificial love. It is not a feeling but an act of will, the desire to put the welfare of others above your own. It is not based on affection or emotion but is concerned with the good of others.
Agape love is a choice to do good for another person regardless of how we feel. It is a decision to compassionately and righteously pursue the betterment of another person. This is why Christians are called to love their enemies and do good to those who hate them.
Jesus demonstrated his love for us by laying down his life on the cross. He said, "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends" (John 15:13, NKJV). Jesus also commanded his followers to "love one another as I have loved you" (John 15:12, NKJV).
Agape love is not based on feelings or emotions but on a decision to act in the best interests of another person. It is a choice to put the needs of others before our own, even if we don't feel love for them. This type of love is sacrificial and demonstrates true Christ-like character.
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Love is an instinctive response
The Bible teaches that love is both an action and an emotion. It is a choice, an act of the will, but it is also an instinctive response that registers as a feeling.
Love is a choice to do good for another person regardless of how we feel. It is a decision to compassionately and righteously pursue the betterment of another person. We are called to love everyone, including our enemies, regardless of how we feel about them. This is only possible through the power of the Holy Spirit.
However, love is also an emotion. According to psychology, an emotion is an instinctive or intuitive response that registers as a feeling and is associated with physiological cues or sensations, which together trigger thoughts, feelings, and behaviours in the individual. Love is usually identified as consisting of mixed or blended emotions or pleasant feelings such as joy, trust, affection, and longing.
The Bible acknowledges that God has and expresses emotions. For example, in John 3:16, it is written, "God so loved the world that He gave...", indicating that God's emotional feeling of love prompted His action of giving. Another example is the story of the raising of Lazarus in John 11:33-37, where it is clear that it was the emotional expression of sadness that caused the people standing around to comment: "See how He loved him".
Therefore, while love is a choice and an act of the will, it is also an instinctive response that involves emotions and feelings.
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