Love Is Practical

As I typed the title of this post, the side of me that understands where I'm going was excited. The side of me that was interpreting how people who don't live in my head would view it was troubled. Because in a sense, love is the very opposite of practical. Practical is often used in a way that makes it synonymous with boring or unimaginative, and that is something love is certainly not. 

I'm most drawn to dictionary definition number four of practical: adapted or designed for actual use; useful. There is an element of action in true love and this is what necessitates practicality as a descriptor. 

I was reading A.W. Pink's commentary on John 14 this morning, and he quotes a Mr. P.W. Heward as saying, "Love is practical, or it is not love at all" 

You can say that you love a person, you may genuinely enjoy their companionship and existence, but if when the rubber hits the road, you give up and disappear, it makes love conditional, which isn't love at all. If your love can be drowned, how was it ever love to begin with? 

This is not to say that action is automatically equated with love. Paul writes of the danger of doing so in 1 Corinthians 13

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. (Verses 1-3)

It is possible to do a lot of things without actually loving. But I still think there is an element to understanding love's usefulness that is of value. It has to be expressed, it has to mean something, it has to be tangible in some aspect or another. 

This is one reason why I love the 5 Love Languages Test . I strongly recommend taking it because it will help you understand how you express and receive love. I also recommend having those you are close to in your life take it as well - your family, friends, housemates, etc - because understanding how they express and receive love enables you to demonstrate that love to them in a way they understand. Further, it works the opposite way: it enables you to appreciate their expressions of love even if it is not one of your top love languages. Abigail is a great example of this for me. Her top love language is gifts, and it is my last. However, because I know that it is her primary way of expressing love, I sincerely appreciate it when she gives me a gift because I know what it means for her to do that. 

I think the first time I took the test the breakdown was something like:

12 - words of affirmation 

 

10 - quality time

7 - acts of service 

1 - gifts 

0 - physical touch 

But now, because of some of my experiences abroad, as well as other stresses and events in my life, things look a lot different

10 - quality time

7 - words of affirmation 

7 - acts of service 

5 - physical touch 

1 - gifts 

It's really neat to see the ways my relationships and experiences have contributed to my perceptions of what love means to me. 

Love's practicality at work.