LESSON 3 IDOLS WE NEVER KNEW WE HAD— LOVE “Love conquers all” is one of those phrases that people think belongs to the Bible, but it doesn’t. It actually belongs to a classical Roman poet by the name of Virgil, taken from book X of his Eclogues. It was written nearly one hundred years before any of the New Testament was recorded. Like most powerful false beliefs, there is an element of truth in it. But ultimately, no—human love cannot solve all our problems. Nonetheless, millions of us pursue it as though it has such power. Many are controlled by the quest for romantic love. Have you met the young woman who simply cannot stand to be single because her personal value is so wrapped up in her association to and acceptance by a man? Have you met the woman who is so bitter and jaded regarding men that she has sworn them off altogether and will take any chance she gets to tell you how they’re all “good for nothing”? In different ways, both of these women show that their lives are controlled by the power of romantic love. Have you heard of the man who is such a chicken when it comes to intimacy and so selfish when it comes to pleasure that his most desired way to interact with women is behind closed doors through pornography? Have you met the man who has no desire to lead his family but idly sits back and sheepishly makes most decisions in his life simply with the goal of not upsetting his wife? In different ways, both of these men are controlled by the power of romantic love. Whether expressed through aggressive dominance or passive neediness, or anything in between, humans are inclined to do what they do so that they can somehow fill that gaping hole inside of them that seems to be crying out for intimacy and love. American pop musician Kesha had a chart-topping hit in the summer of 2010 called “Your Love Is My Drug,” an anthem about our attempts to self-medicate through romantic love. But a woman in the Bible named Leah was singing that tune millennia earlier.
Genesis 29:14b-35 (EHV) Jacob lived with him for a month. 15Then Laban said to Jacob, “Because you are my relative, is that any reason you should serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?” © 2016 Northwestern Publishing House. All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission.
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