When people today think of love, they typically think of a feeling—a feeling that very often is fleeting. How different is the love expressed in the Bible! We can see it in the Old Testament in stories such as the story of Ruth, who said to her widowed mother-in-law Naomi, “Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die, I will die, and there will I be buried.” (Ruth 1:16-17) Here love is a deep, life-long commitment to journey with another, to give of oneself, to share in a life that is grounded in faithfulness to God. Such love comes to its ultimate expression in Jesus Christ—who gives himself fully for us, who shares deeply with us, who journeys with us even unto death, and who would draw us into profound fellowship with God.

When Jesus tells us to “love one another as I have loved you” (John 15:12), this is what he is talking about! So when we think of love today, we do well to look past the shallow images of “love” so often portrayed in our contemporary culture. We need to look to Jesus Christ, for in Christ we find the sort of love that truly changes lives, that transforms relationships, and that can finally change the world.

Sunday’s Scripture Readings:
Ruth 1:1–17
I John 4:10–11

About the Author

Dr. David A. Palmer has been the senior pastor at the United Methodist Church of Kent since 1995. He has a B.A. from Wittenberg University, a Master of Divinity from Duke University, and a Doctor of Ministry from Princeton Theological Seminary. A native of Wooster, Ohio, he has served three other churches in east Ohio before coming to Kent. He and his wife, Mavis, have three children.