What Is Love?

Scripture plainly says that "God is love" (1 John 4:8, 16).  For that reason, when God's authority is being expressed, love is present.  To put it another way, the exercise of divine authority is always framed in love.
Love is willing to admonish others when they falter.  It rejects freelancing, do-it-yourself, long-ranger spirituality.  Instead, it values the interdependence of the body.
Love realizes that because we are members one of another and have the same ancestry, our actions have a profound effect on our fellow brethren.  Love deplores individualistic, privatized Christianity.  Instead it affirms its need for the other members of the church.
Love is sometimes sweet, kind, and nice.  But when it faces the horrors of unrepentant sin, it can be combative and unbending.  Love is patient, respectful, and gentle.  It's never strident, demeaning, or dictatorial.  Love repudiates pompous and inflated claims to authority.  Instead, it's stamped with humility and meekness.
Love isn't flabby or sentimental, but keenly perceptive and discerning.  It never manipulates or imposes its own will.  It never threatens, forces, demands, or coerces.
Love propels us to accept responsibility in being our "brother's keeper."  But it forbids us from becoming intrusive meddlers into his life.  Love never usurps the place of God nor judges the motives of others' hearts.  Nor does it think the worst of them.
Love recognizes that we are called to represent the Holy Spirit's will to one another, not to substitute for His person or replace His work.

Who is Love?
God is love.