Love Is LoveExemplo

The best way to love

I once attended a wedding with the woman I love and ate dinner with two men who were in love. As we talked, laughed, and broke bread together during the reception, I thought—“These guys are a lot like us. They care for each other, are committed to each other, and deeply love each other.”

Love is love. I think my experience is where that saying comes from. Take the gender out of it, and their love is not that different from my love. Maybe you have had a similar realization.

But what sometimes gets overlooked in our conversations about sexuality are the terms and conditions of morally accepted love. If you believe cheating on your partner is wrong, even if your attraction is real, then “love is love” has limits. If you think an eighth-grade girl shouldn’t be dating her 48-year-old teacher, then “love is love” has conditions. We all have a moral standard that makes us judge people’s love as right or wrong.

Here’s the key question—Who sets the standard? As we try to figure out whose love is okay and whose isn’t, who should stay together and who should end their affectionate relationship, whose moral compass will guide our decisions? You? Me? Americans today? Here’s a logical and biblical answer—God. Because God is love, he knows the best way to love. Ponder these words today as we start to explore the intersection of sexuality and spirituality—“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5).