February 10, 2026

What Does Love Mean?

A compilation

Audio length: 12:05
Download Audio (11MB)

According to Ephesians 5:1–2, we walk in love by imitating God just like Jesus did, offering our lives in sacrifice to God: “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”

The “walk” of Ephesians 5:2 refers to our behavior and how we act. … When we behave like Jesus, we are walking in love. … The Greek word translated as “love” in this passage is agape. Agape is sacrificial, unselfish, unconditional love that proves itself through actions. … God’s nature, His essence, is selfless, sacrificial, unconditional love. …

The apostle Paul gives a detailed description of how to walk in love: “Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance” (1 Corinthians 13:4–7). …

Although we are free in Christ, we use our freedom “to serve one another in love. For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’” (Galatians 5:13–14). … This wholehearted, sacrificial imitation of God’s divine agape is what it means to walk in love.—GotQuestions.org¹

How should followers of Jesus respond to all the anger we see erupting today? How can God’s family, the church, be the “peacemakers” and the “ministers of reconciliation” that Jesus commands us to be? How do we build bridges to each other instead of walls around our hearts and homes? We can begin by loving like Jesus loved.

Here are [some] important ways to do just that.

Dignity. Psalm 8:5 says, “God made people just a little lower than the heavenly beings, and he crowned us with glory and honor.” That means God created every person with dignity. To love others, we have to realize that we all have been given the same dignity. You can’t give it to someone. It comes from God. You can only deny or affirm it in others.

“Exercise your freedom by serving God, not by breaking the rules. Treat everyone you meet with dignity” (1 Peter 2:16–17).

Community. We need each other and we’re better together. God never intended for us to go through life alone, lonely, and without the support of other people. …

The church should be the place of unity and community where we model the love of Christ for the world. As followers of Jesus Christ, we are brothers and sisters. Our primary identity comes from God, and all other affiliations will not be carried into heaven. We only carry our relationship with God and each other into eternity.

Love. We were put on this earth to learn how to love. As Jesus says in the Great Commandment, it’s all about learning to love God and learning to love people. … We can be agents of love with people who are completely different from us when we listen to them, look them in the eye, learn from them, and laugh with them.

Reconciliation. As followers of Jesus Christ, we are called to be facilitators of reconciliation. … Matthew 5:9 says, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God.”—Rick Warren²

My love is constant and without end. It is rich and free and abundant (Psalm 103:8), and I manifest My love for you in a multitude of ways each day. Whether or not you see it or feel it or recognize it does not change the fact that My love is constant and abundant and unconditional.

You cannot deserve it or work for it or be worthy of it in yourself, for My love is a free gift. I will never stop loving you. I will always love you with perfect, unending, abundant love.

My love for you is forever love. My eye has been on you from the very beginning of your life. I have been with you every step of the way. I have watched you. I have cared for you. You have never been out of My sight.

I see your every tear. I hear your every cry. I understand your frustrations, worries, burdens, and desires. I know everything about you—all your wants, all your lacks. I see your heart and all that is in it, and I love you deeply.

Come to Me when you are weary and burdened, and I will give you My promised rest (Matthew 11:28–29). I will comfort you, and pour My balm of love upon your aching heart. As you bring every care and concern to Me in prayer, I will calm your worries, fears, tears, and frustration. I will blow away the clouds of confusion and soothe your frazzled nerves.

My love for you is from everlasting to everlasting—a love that will never end (Psalm 103:17). I will be with you always, through whatever deep, dark experience, whatever dense fog you find yourself in—because I love you.—Jesus

What does love mean to four-to-eight-year-old kids? Slow down for a few minutes to read this.

A group of professional people posed this question to a group of four-to-eight-year-old children: “What does love mean?” The answers they got were broader, deeper, and more profound than anyone could have imagined!

“When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn’t bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So, my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That’s love.”—Rebecca (age 8)

“When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth.”—Billy (age 4)

“Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other.”—Karl (age 5)

“Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs.”—Chrissy (age 6)

“Love is what makes you smile when you’re tired.”—Terri (age 4)

“Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is okay.”—Danny (age 8)

“Love is what’s in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and just listen.”—Bobby (age 7)

“Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, and then he wears it every day.”—Noelle (age 7)

“Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well.”—Tommy (age 6)

“During my piano recital, I was on a stage, and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn’t scared anymore.”—Cindy (age 8)

“My mommy loves me more than anybody. You don’t see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night.”—Clare (age 6)

“Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken.”—Elaine (age 5)

“Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is more handsome than Robert Redford.”—Chris (age 7)

“Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day.”—Mary Ann (age 4)

“I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones.”—Lauren (age 4)

“Love is when Mommy sees Daddy on the toilet and she doesn’t think it’s gross.”—Mark (age 6)

“You really shouldn’t say ‘I love you’ unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget.”—Jessica (age 8)

And the final one: The winner was a four-year-old child whose next-door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman’s yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, “Nothing. I just helped him cry.”—Author unknown

Published on Anchor February 2026. Read by Lenore Welsh. Music by John Listen.

¹ “What does it mean to walk in love (Ephesians 5:2)?” Gotquestions.org, https://www.gotquestions.org/walk-in-love.html

² Rick Warren, “Loving Like Jesus in a Fractured World,” Pastors.com, https://blog.pastors.com/articles/loving-like-jesus-in-a-fractured-world/

Posted in: altruism, audio, community, compilation, love