True Love can't wait (to give)

(this is a synthesis of a message by John Piper in his video series The Blazing Center)

2 Corinthians 8:1-4,8
1 Corinthians 13:3

The apostle Paul was encouraging the Corinthian church to give generously for the needs of the poor in Jerusalem by describing a miracle which he had experienced in Macedonia as he saw how the church there gave.

1We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, 2for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. 3For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, 4begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints—

8 I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine.

Verse 8 shows that what is described in vv1-4 is what Paul would call "genuine love".

So this is how the whole deal came down:

First- "the grace of God was given among the churches"
then- "in a severe test of affliction" (circumstances)
"extreme poverty" combined with "abundance of joy"
to produce an overflow of wealth of generosity

this generosity is further described as:
giving- according to their means--> beyond their means
of their own free will--> begging earnestly for the favor of giving

Picture this: a bowl made out of clay (earthen vessel) = the Macedonian church
sitting on brambles and thorns which are on fire = severe test of affliction (probably persecution)
with a few tablespoons of thin soup in the bowl= extreme poverty

then ALL OF A SUDDEN God rains his grace on them!

and the whole mess bubbles up and spills over = generous giving for the needs of the poor

Now consider 1 Corinthians 13:3
3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Paul says, "even if I make an extreme act of generosity and devotion, if it is not motivated by LOVE- it isn't worth anything in God's accounting."

Based on 2 Corinthians 8, Love is:
The outpouring of God's grace which produces such joy that it overflows in generosity to others (even in extreme circumstances of poverty and persecution).

So the often quoted teaching that "Love isn't a feeling, it is something you DO." is wrong, or at least incomplete. I believe it is a reaction to worldly, selfish "love" which is motivated by the loveliness of the object, and produces feelings of desire in the "lover". Certainly it is true that love is more than a feeling, in this sense.

The next step up is a love motivated by knowledge of God's law and a sense of duty to obey it. It is a legalistic, dutiful love. It is an act of the will. Piper (characteristically, in my opinion) sees only black and white, and says this is NOT love at all. I quibble with this, because I believe we are to use all the weapons at our disposal, and sometimes the only one at hand is duty.

In the first case, the love is focused on the object, the person being loved.
In the second, the focus is on the subject, the lover and her duty to love.
The best case includes both the object and the subject, but is energized neither by the desirability nor the needs of the former, nor the desire or duty of the latter, but by the grace of God.

Yes we see the need, yes we realize our duty- but then the grace of God pours down and soaks us in joy! We love out of an exuberant desire to share God's love which is overflowing in our hearts.

So true love can't wait, and true love is a feeling.