God is love?

Language fascinates me.

When I say the word "blue," what do you think of? Well, I would assume that you would think of the color. But, that single word does not encposs every capacity of that color. There are light blues, dark blues, aqua blues, robins-egg blue--I could continue on forever. That single words shares an understanding, but does not hold a particular meaning.

Meanwhile, through the Russian langauge, a difference is regonized. "Goluboy" means light blue. "Siniy" means dark blue. So, when they say those colors, there is an even more condenscesed and concrete meaning behind it.

This sort of relationship between langauge and understanding is visible everywhere. All the time.

If I said "dog," do you think of a golden retriever puppy, or a yappy Chihuahua? Again, a general understanding, but not a mutual one.

If I said "rain," do you think of a single rain drop, or an intense thunderstorm?

Language is just as much a necessary tool, as it is a hinderence. Sometimes a lack of words causes the goal to come to a mutual understanding to become impossible. Sometimes no amount of language will help someone understand what you are talking about.

It is a fact: words will never truly encompass everything that needs to be said. There will almost always be at least a small difference in understanding.

Regardless of how much you describe your pain, your doctor will never truly understand what you are feeling, unless he were to physically feel the pain himself.

Regardless of how well you describe the visual scenes in a movie you saw on Friday night, your friend (who hasn't seen the movie) will not be imagining the same image in their mind, until they physically see the movie themselves.

Regardless of how descriptive you are about the taste of Vegemite, no one truly undersands it until it touches their tastebuds.

Language is needed. But language is limited.

Recognizing this, I look at the verse 1 John 4:8 "Whoever does not love, does not know God. God is love."

Let's think about this for a second. God is love. God is love?

What does "love" mean to you? What does the physical word "love" represent for human beings?

To me, it means many things: caring, compassion, friendship, empathy, etc. You know, all the cliche definitions of love.

But, let's think about it this way. What does the physical word "love" represent to God?

I have no idea. God's langauge and the English language are so vastly different, that the possibility of us TRULY understanding God's love is slim to none.

God has so much love. It is more love than we could ever comprehend in our itty-bitty human minds. God had to shrink down the understaning of his capacity to such a tiny little word in order to give us humans even an elementary understanding: "love." Can the actual word "love" really represent everything God has to offer?

Of course not. The reality of the vastness of his love can not possibly be represented in the English word "love."

I have no idea if this post is making any sense at all, but I hope it resonates with you a little bit, like it has with me. I've been thinking a lot about this lately. Mainly because I am learning about the foundations and use of language in my classes, and I can't help but think about how relevant it is with the language between us and Him.