One multi-year study did find that over 60% of all songs in the Top 40 were love songs. Not surprising really, given how wonderful an experience it is to love and to be loved. However, a large number of love songs, perhaps the majority, lament the difficulties and disappointments of human love.

Quite a few researchers have tried to find out how many love songs there are in the world. They have all concluded that it’s an impossible task. Just too many to count.

One multi-year study did find that over 60% of all songs in the Top 40 were love songs. Not surprising really, given how wonderful an experience it is to love and to be loved. However, a large number of love songs, perhaps the majority, lament the difficulties and disappointments of human love. These include:

• One-sided love: The person doesn’t love you back.
• Deceptive love: Whatever they say and do, they don’t really love you.
• Selfish love: The person is only interested in what they get out of you.
• Word-only love: No actions to back up the words.
• Unfaithful love: Betrayed by promised love going to another.
• Jealous love: Doesn’t let you love anyone else in any way.
• Controlling love: Doesn’t trust, but rather confines and crushes.
• Divided love: Love is shared with a hobby, work, home.
• Commercial love: Bargaining, score-counting, more like a business.
• Unforgiving love: Remembers every bad thing ever done – Or the ONE BIG THING.
• Unsatisfying love: It’s good, but it’s not great.
• Unchangeable Love: It fluctuates, or fades.
• Temporary love: Eventually comes to an end.

Perhaps these are some of the reasons why the Apostle Paul prayed that the Ephesians (and all Christians) would know the multi-dimensional love of Jesus Christ (Eph. 3:18-19). Unlike the best human love, His love is:

Two-sided Love: No one can ever say they love Christ more than He loves them.

True Love: There is no deception, no charade, no act, no pretence.

Selfless Love: If you were to look at Christ’s heart you would not find Himself at the center, but you.

Practical Love: He doesn’t only talk love, He does love. He gave and gives everything He has.

Faithful Love: No risk that He will betray us, give us up, or break His promise

Jealous Love: Sinful jealousy stops you from loving what would be good for you. Christ’s holy jealousy stops you from loving what would be bad for you.

Freeing Love: His love doesn’t confine or crush but frees you to flourish, to develop, to grow, and to thrive

Complete Love: You often feel as if you are the only person in the world that He loves.

Intimate Love: Instead of competitive score-keeping and quid pro quo, there’s a growing bond, union, and oneness.

Forgiving Love: The length, depth, height, and width of our sins are covered by the length, depth, height, and width of Christ’s love

Satisfying Love: It’s not just good, its great. Sometimes it is overwhelming, “beyond knowing.”

Unchangeable Love: It never fluctuates or fades, although at times our felt experience of it may have ups and downs.

Eternal Love: Once loved, always loved. A love that never ends, not even at death. Indeed, death only deepens it.

Now that’s a love worth singing about!

For more on this subject, see John Bunyan’s All Loves Excelling: The Saints’ Knowledge of Christ’s Love ($7 paperback) or $1.99 for the Kindle Version.

David Murray is Professor of Old Testament & Practical Theology at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary. This article first appeared on his blog, Head Heart Hand, and is used with permission.