For those who say, “Love is love…”. No. God is love and God has called us to love as He loves.
Deuteronomy says, “…. And love your neighbor as yourself.” That’s all well and good as a starting point for a people who know, love, and obey God. However, loving others as yourself leaves a path a mile wide to follow the desires of one’s own heart instead, ignoring God’s own love and desires for His own. It has now become even as it was in the days of Judges 20:25, “In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.”
Jesus gave a more highly refined, narrower definition of “love”, one with greater power, clarity, and a call to a higher standard when he said in John 13: 34 -35, “A new command I give you: Love one another. AS I HAVE LOVED YOU, SO MUST YOU LOVE ONE ANOTHER (NOT “love others as you love yourself.”) By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
And further in John 17: 8-9, “For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. 9 I pray for them. I AM NOT PRAYING FOR THE WORLD, but for those you have given me, for they are yours……
24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26 I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order THAT THE LOVE YOU HAVE FOR ME MAY BE IN THEM AND THAT I MYSELF MAY BE IN THEM.” (Loving as Christ is loved and as Christ loves us, not merely as we love ourselves)
The Father’s love for Jesus and Jesus’ love for his followers and his followers’ love for one another is not the same love the world pursues and worships. That love is like that of those who do not have a King, and who do as they themselves see fit.
When Christ is King, love is defined by God’s desires, not one’s own.
That’s not an insignificant difference. Jesus moves all commands from valuable to virtuous, from letter of the law to Spirit of the law. From that which is the minimum suitable to all persons, to the higher standard for those who desire to follow Him. “You have heard it said……., but I tell you….”
No, “Love” is not “love.” Godly love is selfless and rooted in desire for God’s best for others. The love many seek serves their own selfish desires and the lust of the flesh.