By Myrtle V. Thompson

In a recent Parade Magazine article, Dan Marlberg explains “Why I love Baseball.”

I don’t know Marlberg, but I know he loves baseball. Love, a verb and a noun, is a word used to convey meaning. It can bring on a smile or a sarcastic frown: “Don’t you just love that!” The verb love is “to be fond of, to show affection for.” The noun is “a strong complex emotion or feeling, causing one to appreciate, delight in or crave.” The word crave caught my attention.

The year was 1962. I was in Pakistan, studying the Urdu language, hoping to complete the requirements for both the fourth and fifth year finals in one day, seven exams on varying topics. My teacher, Mr. Mohd. Din, an elderly Muslim gentleman, was thorough. Vocabulary was important. I was expected to know the specific meaning of words in the texts. One was the Bible passage in John 3:16. That seemed simple until Mr. Mohd. Din asked me to define love.

Love can delight in something or erupt from a deep emotion. Love can exhibit a craving for something. We love a child or people, but explaining the biblical sense of God’s love was not easy.

Language translations of the Bible speak to the heart. Exact translations are not always possible. A newer English Bible translation reads like this: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

After weighing its Scriptural meaning, Mr. Mohd. Din said to love something is to place value on it. Translating the words from the Arabic turned out like this: “Because God placed so much value on the world He freely gave His Only Son that whoever brings faith and places it on Him would not be destroyed but rather find the life everlasting.”

Christians believe in a God Who loves and is love (I John 4:8.) He was personified in Jesus Christ. When we put our faith in Him, Jesus Christ becomes for us the supreme sacrifice demanded by a holy God so we can be forgiven for our sins and live forever in His presence. God loves us so much He has a “craving” for us to know Him. We measure His love by the value we put on it.

I learned something else that day. The Muslims have 99 names for God, but none of them says He is love. It is a singularity unique to the Christian faith and not found in any other religion. God will not give His glory to any other. (Isaiah 42:8.=)

I passed six of the exams, including the Bible exam, with flying colors. The seventh was a copy of John F. Kennedy’s State of the Union speech to translate from the Urdu. It had been in the Voice of America paper all the Americans received. I had ignored it like we ignore or fail to appreciate God’s love for us.

Myrtle V. Thompson is a 90-year-old retired missionary, educator and writer. Contact her at mvtgrt@gmail.com.