Some Thoughts on Love

Townhall.com | Dennis Prager | Feb. 12, 2008

With Valentine’s Day approaching, some thoughts on love.
1. The love relationship between a man and a woman is unique. There is no love like it for two primary reasons: First, it is the love of equals — all other love relationships (except same-sex friends) are between unequals. Second, it is sexual.

2. Because it is the only love relationship between equals (again except for friends), it is the only relationship in which it is a good thing to seek to be loved. In other relationships, it is bad to seek to be loved. Parents who seek to be loved by their children will inevitably do a poor job as a parent. They may even damage their child. Leaders who seek to be loved by the public will be ineffective at best and dangerous at worst. One can only lead if he does not yearn to be loved. A teacher who tries to be loved by her students will likewise fail. Parents, leaders, teachers have jobs to do, and seeking to be loved compromises their ability to do those jobs properly. They should seek to do the right thing, and doing the right thing often means being not loved, even hated. If they seek any response from those they lead, it should be respect, not love.

But in the love of equals — i.e., the love between a man and a woman and the love of friends — it is not only all right to seek to be loved, it is a good thing. Taking the love of a spouse or friend for granted is perhaps the single greatest cause of marital divorce and the breakup of friendships. “What can I do to ensure his/her continuing love?” is a wonderful thing to keep in mind.

3. That is one reason the notion of “unconditional love” is foolish. The fact is, we all earn love, and it is a good thing to have to do so. What possible good purpose can the belief that your spouse loves you unconditionally — i.e., no matter how you act — serve? If we believe our spouse loves us no matter what we do, what would motivate us to be on our best behavior at all times? Why be kind even when we are in a foul mood? Why work to stay attractive if he will love me no matter how much I neglect how I look? Why continue to pay attention to her — like regularly calling her from work — if I know that even if I ignore her, she will continue to love me?

Unconditional love is not a good idea. I don’t know where it originated, but I am quite certain it’s relatively recent, a product of an age that has put primary importance on feelings. With the possible exception of a parent’s love for a young child, unconditional love is not a good idea among people, and it’s probably not a good idea concerning God’s love for us. I am familiar with no biblical basis for the notion that God loves us no matter how much cruelty and evil we engage in (God’s love of His Chosen People, Israel, is specifically depicted as conditional upon Israel’s behavior), or for the notion that God loved Adolf Hitler and Mother Teresa equally. Frankly, I would be disappointed in such a God. It renders Him a love machine whose love cannot be affected by our behavior, not a loving being who is affected by how we act. It renders His love amoral. And it prevents us from growing up.

4. “God is love” is a half-truth. God is many things, and love is only one of them. One can just as accurately say “God is punishment” or “God is justice” or “God is truth.”

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2 thoughts on “Some Thoughts on Love”

  1. Mr. Prager’s points 1 & 2 when he is talking about human love, I can live with, in fact his protestation about human “unconditional love” is valid. However, in points 3 & 4 he confuses God’s love with man’s love. If I understand Mr. Prager: God should be fickle, just like human beings are and Mr. Prager wouldn’t have it any other way; God should dispense justice as retribution just like human beings do and Mr. Prager wouldn’t have it any other way; somehow justice, truth, even chastisement (punishment) are separate from love in his mind.

    God loves us all equally and constantly, He just practices natural and logical consequences if we decide to reject His love and ignore His commandments. He judges rightly because He loves totally. We don’t have to do anything to gain His love, we do have to submit to it to experience His love. That is a vast difference that Mr. Prager doesn’t seem to understand.

  2. >>If they seek any response from those they lead, it should be respect, not love.

    I agree that attention-hungry immature adults looking to “be loved” as thought of “as cool” are misguided and ridiculous.

    But parenthood as well as any service in any type of position from a Christian perspective, is about self-sacrificial love.

    The word has become so commonplace, essentially replacing the word “like” or “prefer”, that I suspect that’s the “love” the author speaks of.

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