To Encourage You

2 Samuel 13:1 “Now Absalom, David’s son, had a beautiful sister, whose name was Tamar. And after a time Amnon, David’s son, loved her.”

“Love is love.”  It’s a phrase that we see more and more these days.  But what does it mean?  Do those who are saying it and posting it to social media know what it means?  For example, what does it mean in the account above from 2 Samuel 13:1 regarding Amnon and his beautiful half-sister Tamar?  It says that Amnon loved her. Since “love is love,” was that a good thing? But now, in the words of Paul Harvey, for “the rest of the story.” 

As we read throughout 2 Samuel 13, we see that Amnon’s love for his sister was a twisted and despicable thing.  His love for her was nothing more than sexual desire, and because it was a desire for incest, it was a love that violated the Law of God.  Amnon’s “love” for his sister motivated him to deceive her and his father David into thinking that he was sick. It was all a plot to lure her into a situation of being alone with him, and after she was placed in that situation, Amnon raped her.  Of course, she was devastated by this act of “love,” and she went away “crying aloud as she went.”  We are told that after Amnon raped her, he “hated her with very great hatred, so that the hatred with which he hated her was greater than the love with which he had loved her.” We are told that he told his servant to “Put this woman out of my presence and bolt the door after her.” 

So, what happened to all his “love”? If “love is love,” how are we to think about all this?  The fact is that not all love is equivalent.  The Bible is clear about this fact.  It’s a matter that should be obvious, no matter what so many in this world might say.  In James 3:14-17, a “wisdom that is from above,” is described and contrasted that which is “from below” in the following words: “But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.” And so, God would have us to know that to say “wisdom is wisdom” would be to lie.  The same holds true with the similar statement, “love is love.”  There is a love that is “from below, earthly, unspiritual, demonic.” That’s the kind of love that Amnon had.  It was a love that was an abomination because it violated the law of God. But then there is a love that is from above.  It’s described for us in the following words from 1 Corinthians 13:4-8: “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.”

And so God would have us to know that not all love is the same.  Some is from below. It’s an Amnon kind of love. It’s a “love” that God abhors.  And you can be certain that the God Who IS love (1 John 4:8) knows very well when one is confused about such terms. It’s not a word that we should just play fast and loose with, for when we do such things, we’re only confusing ourselves.