Today, Super Bowl LII will be held in Minnesota. This is the most watched sporting event held in America and it is one of the biggest tournaments worldwide; only surpassed by the Olympic Games and the FIFA World Cup.
Sports and similar events have grown exponentially in the United States. There are competitions almost every day, in almost everything you can think of and at every level. Little kids compete in “Pee Wee” leagues and then continue playing in Middle and High school, in college and some become “professionals.” There’s even senior leagues for retired athletes.
America (and the whole world) has an obsession with competitions. We play and watch a bunch of “normal” sports (football, basketball, baseball, hockey, golf, car racing, etc.), but there are many tournaments involving other activities like Frisbee, darts, horseshoe toss and many other really weird “sports.”
I have never heard of any event in which couples compete to see who loves the other person more. A few years ago, Stanford University conducted a “Love Competition” in which a few couples competed via an MRI to see who loved his partner the most. The brain scan showed different levels of reactions in the brain, along with raised levels of dopamine, endorphins, serotonin and other brain chemicals.
This is not the kind of love competition that I am referring to. MRI’s and X-Rays cannot determine how much we love others, because love is not an emotion or “chemistry.” Love is a gift from God and is expressed mostly by loving and giving actions that come from our will.
The Bible says: “For God so loved the world that He gave…” (John 3:16)
Love is measured, not by fancy poems and extravagant gifts (although there is a place for those), but by our giving. In 2 Corinthians 8:5, the apostle Paul speaks of the Macedonians great giving in this way:
“…but they first gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us by the will of God.”
This is real love. Love gives. God gave and the Macedonians gave. Giving, however, is more than giving money—it is giving ourselves to God and to others.
I have often wondered how different marriages (and other relationships) would be, if we would try to outlove each other. Divorce and fights would be a thing of the past if we were more concerned for the well being of our partners or friends. Philippians 2:3, 4 says,
“Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.”
Alexander Gonzalez
