Genesis 27:4 English Standard Version (ESV) and prepare for me delicious food, such as I love, and bring it to me so that I may eat, that my soul may bless you before I die.”

The first use of the love is ahab (pronounced a-hav) meaning human appetite for objects such as food. If I did not know the bible and someone had said to me that God is love, then my expectation for the use of the word love would have been much earlier than chapter 27.

Perhaps this is because the expression of love is non-verbal. Actions precede speech. Because we do not always understand actions in context, a deeper understanding is required to translate actions into words. Saying I love you without the context of action is meaningless. The speaker cannot convey with understanding the concept of meaning without action. It then becomes defined by the hearer in terms of their understanding. So how do we understand love?

This first use example is only one expression of love but is a prime example of human conditioning. Our appetites are satisfied and we are pleased by the act. The act satisfies an appetite and how does one experience appetite? A hunger precedes appetite in some form. Food is the most simple and basic experience because we hungered from birth with no understanding of the concept.

The mother knows what the baby needs and her body responds by nature to nurture. It is a time tested example of meeting needs because she can and is willing. Because this is only the first expression of love the baby responds to the act with satisfaction. The baby’s hunger is satisfied.

As we grow and our world becomes more complex this expression of satisfying the human appetite become more complex. The expression of love becomes more complex with changes in appetites but the basic principle still exists. Someone needs to satisfy the hunger in order to express some variant of love. If someone else is not willing to satisfy those hungers we will seek to satisfy them on our own.

Acts 8:14-17 English Standard Version (ESV)

¹⁴ Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, ¹⁵ who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, ¹⁶ for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. ¹⁷ Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.

When I was baptized in the mid-60’s I was baptized in the name of Jesus but I was not baptized of the Holy Spirit. Everyone assumed that God had me in His hands and that their work was done. Perhaps that was true but what happened to me between water immersion and baptism of the Holy Spirit? Pain.

Nothing feels as unloving as being alone in a crowded room. It causes us to feel abandoned, neglected, and unlovable. People talk at you not to you. Nothing gets to the core of understanding because love isn’t attached. So why is being baptized in the Holy Spirit so important? Because you will never be alone again.

John 14:16, 26 English Standard Version (ESV) And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

If we are going to learn about God, His character, His personality, His plans, His love, we can only learn it from God Himself. In verse 26 it states “he will teach you all things” and He is God in the third person.

Granted we have human teachers who imprint the Word on our minds but only God can imprint them on our hearts. That is being loved.