Love is Passionate

Have you ever considered that hate is not always the opposite of love? Through years of observing people, I have learned that many do not actively love others, yet they would not say they hate them either. They simply exist somewhere in between, where warmth has faded but bitterness has not fully taken hold.

There is a state of heart just as dangerous as hatred, and that is indifference. It is a quiet, subtle distance that creeps into relationships between siblings, couples, coworkers, and even believers in the same church. It often begins with small offenses, bruised egos, or unforgiven hurts.

What starts as a minor gap can grow into resentment or coldness of heart. The Bible warns, “Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold” (Matthew 24:12).

Disunity does not happen suddenly. It slips in gently. Think of marriage, for example. Before a divorce ever occurs, two hearts have already stopped beating as one. It often starts with a single unhealed moment, a word left unspoken, or a wound left unattended, until love grows silent.

Scripture says, “Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines” (Song of Solomon 2:15). It is the little things left unchecked that destroy the beauty of love.

The journey from unity to disunity is usually slowly preogressive. Many people live for years in this state of indifference. They share a home but no longer share their hearts. Their lives run parallel, not intertwined. Yet the Word of God calls us to “endeavour to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3).

True love cannot survive that way.

Love must be intentional, shown through affection, forgiveness, and service. The Bible says, “Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another” (Romans 12:10). Love is not passive, it is active, compassionate, and deliberate.

We are reminded that love is more than emotion; it is a continual choice to care, to forgive, and to give. “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). That is how Jesus loved us, not with words alone but with sacrifice. Scripture instructs, “My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth” (1 John 3:18).

Love is passionate, not in the shallow sense of emotion alone, but in its willingness to reach out again and again, even when it costs something. To love truly is to act. To forgive quickly is to stay free. To serve humbly is to stay connected. Revelation 3:15–16 reminds us that God detests lukewarmness: “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot… because thou art lukewarm, I will spue thee out of my mouth.”

So let your love be fervent. Let it be alive. Let it be expressed daily in kindness, in grace, and in forgiveness. “Love suffers long, and is kind; love envies not; love vaunts not itself, is not puffed up” (1 Corinthians 13:4). This is the love God calls us to walk in, faithful, affectionate, and ever reaching beyond self.

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