Love, what it is and isn't

In 1 Corinthians chapter 13 (known as the love chapter), Paul gives us a great description of what love should be like.
Starting with verse 4 he says "Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails."  NIV
I John vs 10-11 "This is love; not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.  Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another."
then in vs 16 we read "And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.  God is love.  Whoever lives in love lives in God and God in him."  vd 17 "In this way, love is made complete among us...." vs 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.  The one who fears is not made perfect in love."

When one reads the word "love" in the Bible, one must understand which meaning is being used.
There is love as a friend loves (phileo love.)
There is love as a man and wife loves (eros love.)
And then there is the love that is unconditional love (agape love.)

We can think of these types of love as shallow, deep, and perfect.
Some relationships we have will remain as phileo type of love.  We love our siblings and some close friends this way.

Romantic love is the eros type of love.  Now this type of love is not all physical as one might assume.  No, eros love is a deep, abiding love that grows deeper (hopefully) in time.  It is a giving love and sometimes must keep no giving even when the other does not receive that same level of love in return.

Now Agape love is perfect love.  In John 3:16 we read "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."
this is a snapshot of Agape kind of love.  It is the kind of love that expects nothing in return; has no ulterior motive; and is perfect.  It is the kind of love we only see between God and man.
What Paul and John have to say about love is that we need to strive toward Agape love, that perfect love.
We may never attain it since we are not perfect ourselves.  But we are to work toward it.  The more the Holy Spirit lives in you, the more you will see this kind of love played out in your daily life.

May you meditate on this kind of love and ask God to help you live out the attributes of it as Paul and John have laid out for us to follow.