Does love have a reason?

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savedbychrist

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God loves out of His nature, “for God is love”. (1 John 4:18) Humans are made in His image, is love in our nature too? And, does unconditional love have a reason?
 
I’m not sure about what you mean by reason.
 
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I guess he means “I love you because you are pretty, because you are wonderful, because you are good, because you love me, because I gave birth to you, etc.”

I think that the answer to that (at least what I’d say is) that love isn’t dependent on any attribute but it can be inflamed, spurred or sparked by anything.
 
VanitasVanitatum said:
I’m not sure about what you mean by reason.
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People, especially couples, often ask “why do you love me?” People usually answer conditions like kindness, thoughtfulness, beauty, tenderness, etc. Is there such a reason in unconditional love?
 
I think that perfect unconditional love would have no reason, except maybe that we are made for it, and it is our duty, but even though it’s our duty we shouldn’t feel like it is forced upon us to complete it as a task. Just as breathing is our duty to live, so should love be if it was perfect. As we are not perfect creatures, we often love for reasons, such as this person gives me joy, or this person is a family member, so I MUST love them, but again, this is an imperfect love.
 
If love is “to will the good of the other, as other,” then yes, I would say that is in human nature. That is, what it is to be a human is to be a loving entity. We will the good of others all the time, especially of those we’re most attached to (e.g., family). It most certainly does seem to be in our nature to do so.

As for the “reason,” I would think it is that we see the intrinsic worth/value/dignity/sacredness in the other human person. Anything with a high amount of intrinsic value/sanctity we recognize as being worthy of (deserving of) love.
 
Use last Sunday’s Second Reading for Lectio Divina, and get back to us, and see if your question is answered:

Read
Meditate
Pray
Contemplate

But don’t forget after your question is answered, to complete the process by acting out in your daily life what God revealed to you!
 
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savedbychrist said:
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VanitasVanitatum:
I’m not sure about what you mean by reason.
Click to expand...
People, especially couples, often ask “why do you love me?” People usually answer conditions like kindness, thoughtfulness, beauty, tenderness, etc. Is there such a reason in unconditional love?
Click to expand...
There are a lot mutually edifying reasons for lovers to love. Perfect love is a choice of the will for the good of the beloved. And the commitment of that choice will transcend the reasons when they are lacking.
 
Ioana said:
“I love you because you are pretty, because you are wonderful, because you are good, because you love me, because I gave birth to you, etc.”
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You’re talking about the kind of love that is associated with a special relationship, such as spouse, parent, or close friend. There is a reason why this person is special to us, and we express that using the word “love”.

There are actually 4 types of love in the original Greek language of the Bible:
  1. Eros, which is sensual or romantic love, the kind associated with a sexual relationship. “I love you because you’re pretty” would likely be Eros because the physical attraction leads to romance and intimacy.
  2. Storge, which is family love, the kind you have between a parent and child or between siblings. “I love you because I gave birth to you” would be Storge.
  3. Philia, which is the love normally between close friends, or even spouses once you set the romance/ sex part aside. You look out for the other person, would run to help them if they were in trouble, would put their interests above your own. This is the type of love that early Christians were encouraged to have for one another in the community.
  4. Agape, which is unconditional love that God has for us, and that Jesus had for us when he died for us. This type of love is truly unconditional and completely selfless, pure love.
The confusion we have talking about this in English is we use the word “love” to describe all four types of love. We also use “unconditional love” to describe some human love relationships, such as a parent having unconditional love for their child; no matter if the child commits terrible crimes or behaves very badly towards the parent, the parent will always be there, loving them, but you are right that the parent-child relationship is the condition. Parent is likely not going to have the same self-sacrificing love for the kid next door, or some stranger, that they do for their own child.

I think it’s possible, but difficult, for humans to have Agape love for other humans. Some great saints like St. Francis and Mother Teresa may have accomplished it, but it is difficult and there are always likely to be some people on earth who you love more than others.
 
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God has a supernatural love towards his creatures. He loves them because he loves them. They sin against him and he is incarnate as a man and suffers death for them. It is 100% impossible to possess this kind of love without being infused with divine grace, because it is outside of any scientific explanation.

All forms of natural love come with many conditions. Somebody is kind, or cute, or dependable, or sexually attractive, or a parent, or a teacher/mentor, etc.
 
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