LOVE
The Key: Love
Ah! *sigh* L’amour! Oh Love…how sweet it is. Just
the word alone brings the warm fuzzies all over, doesn’t it?
The Bible mentions the word “Love” 310 times! That’s
a whole bunch of lovin’ going on! But really what does it mean? I love cookies
but I’m not bringing them home to meet my mom and dad. My Dad would eat them
and probably wouldn’t share either.
I love my daughter...she is my everything...
I loved my cat Seti. He was my best fuzzy buddy. We were together for 17 years. Small, fat and grey. But oh what a jolly feline he was! He’s passed away 3 yrs ago Feb 2...but I still love him and miss him...
I love so many things, shoes, purses, cars. I’m
eyeballing the Ford Flex right now. There’s just something about that car! Mmm
hmmm…
Yeah…um…back to reality… Most couples say they are
marrying because they love their fiancé, but what is love? In our educated
western society, love has changed. It really doesn’t mean what it used to.
We've exchanged the truth of love for a squishy feeling that means absolutely nothing if sincerity is not behind it. Heck we have taken the word love and applied it to places it need not be. It has literally become a foolish word in the English language.
The Biblical Concept of Love
Let’s
look up a few scriptures first for reference sake and not all 310 of them,
we’ll settle for about 17. To understand
anything we must start to build on a solid foundation and with Love, the best
book ever written on the subject is God’s word. I used the New King James for
these particular scriptures.
Love Scriptures
Proverbs 17:17a: A
friend loves at all times…
Matt 6:24: No one can
serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else
he will be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
Matt 22: 37-39 You
shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with
all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And second is like it:
You shall love your neighbour as yourself.
Luke 6:27 …Love your
enemies…
John 3:16 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.
John 13:34 A new
commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that
you also love one another.
Romans 13:8, 10 Owe no
one anything except to love one another, for he who loves one another has
fulfilled the law. 10 Love does no harm to a neighbour therefore love is the
fulfillment of the law.
1Cor 8:1b …Knowledge
puffs up, but love edifies.
Gal 2:20 I have been
crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and
the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who
loved me and gave Himself for me.
Gal 5:13 For you,
brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an
opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.
Gal 6:2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so
fulfill the law of Christ.
Eph 4:2 With all
lowliness and gentleness with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love.
Eph 5:2 And walk in
love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a
sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.
Eph 5:25 Husbands love
your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her.
Titus 2:4 …that they
admonish the young women to love their husbands to love their children.
1 Peter 4:8 And above
all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude
of sins.”
1 John 3:16-18 By this
we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay
down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees
his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God
abide in him? My little children let us not love in word or in tongue, but in
deed and truth.
That
there was a lot of typing! See how much I "loved" you; I typed it all out so you
could just keep on reading! But you’re not off the hook by any stretch of your wild
imaginations.
Now 1Cor 13:4-7 gives the Bible’s
DEFINITION of love. These verses indicate that love consists of many elements. We are now going to examine what are some
characteristics of love?
♥Love
suffers long-endures offense, is not hasty, waits for the LORD to right all
wrong.
♥Love is
Kind – not inconsiderate, seeks to help, is constructive, blesses when cursed,
helps when hurt, and demonstrates tenderness.
♥Love is
not envious but content – is not jealous of another person’s success or
competes.
♥Love is
not arrogant, but humble – is not haughty but lowly and gracious.
♥Love is
not boastful, but reserved – does not show off, try to impress, want to be the
centre of attraction.
♥Love is
not rude, but courteous
♥Love is
not selfish, but self-forgetful
♥Love is
not irritable, but good tempered
♥Love is
not vindictive or wrathful, but generous
♥Love
does not delight in bringing another person’s sins to light, but rejoices when
another person obeys the truth.
♥Love is
not rebellious, but brave conceals rather than exposes another person’s wrong
doing to others.
♥Love is
not suspicious but trustful, not cynical, makes every allowance, and looks for
an explanation that will show the best in others.
♥Love is
not despondent, but hopeful, does not give up because it has been deceived or
denied.
♥Love is
not conquerable, but invincible – it can outlast any problem.
Do you recognize any of these
in yourself? Do you see how LOVE is NOT a feeling...
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Types of Love
In the
English language LOVE means many things. But in the Bible, love is actually
three different Greek words. EROS, PHILIA, AGAPE.
Eros is the love that seeks sensual expression. Eros is a romantic love,
sexual love. It is inspired by the biological structure of the human nature. In
a good marriage, a husband and wife will eros each other romantically and
erotically.
Philia is Friendship. Friendship means companionship,
communication, and cooperation. If you are considering marriage, might I
suggest building your relationship on this particular Philia foundation.
Agape is self-giving love, gift of love, unconditional
love, the love that goes on loving even when others become unlovable. Agape
love is not just something that happens to you; it’s something you make happen.
It’s a choice. Love is a personal act of commitment. Jesus’ love is that gift.
It is being sympathetic, thoughtful, and sensitive to the needs of your loved
one. Agape is contentment and forgiving.
You Are Loved!
Jesus’
love for us is a sacrificial love, an eternal love.
Can you
imagine if individuals would put forth an effort on purpose to increase the
Philia (Friendship) and Agape (Unconditional) love, all three types of love
would increase and enhance and enrich in this earth. The agape love alone can
increase and enhance in others. But all three must be given conscious concise effort.
Looking
back on the scriptures I wrote out for you, do you see any common threads? A
lot of what I read was reiterate the fact that Love is an action. It’s not merely
hubby on the couch shouting to the wife who’s up to her ears in dirty dishes “I
love you hunny”. No, it’s hubby getting up and giving her a hand and putting an actual effort into helping her. Lord knows, that's part of my idea man right there!
When God
formed man, He did so for one reason, Family. God wanted a family. He wanted
people to love and have them freely love Him right back.
Out of Love, God from
the beginning of time planned to have His only Son Jesus die for us. Jesus
didn’t have to die for us. He could have simply said no and went on his merry way, but instead, He came
to earth, humbled Himself by becoming one of us and lived a less then glamorous
life ending with His INNOCENT UNWARRANTED death on the cross.
I saw a
bumper sticker once; it said “What? Are you allergic to love” and the picture
on it was of a crucified Christ.
In light
of all we have discovered thus far, I want to add one more item to this mix…
Self love
Now I’m
not talking conceit here, like you are “all that and a bag of cookies”, I’m
talking about loving yourself, respecting yourself, respecting the person God
created you to be. If you cannot love yourself, you can’t love anyone. In this
day and age, all you see is the world’s view of love and it's all about personal gratification.
Somehow,
we managed to take God out of love and put sex in His place. It’s just not
right. Sex and Love are two different animals. And right now we aren’t going to
feed one of them. Let me scream this at you...SEX IS NOT LOVE!!!! For heaven's sake! STOP MIXING THE TWO UP!!! SERIOUSLY!!!!!
I want
you to focus on you as the Masterpiece of God…You, who from the beginning of
time was so loved by God that He made His plan and included you in the fine
details. You are worth the blood that Jesus shed on Calvary. Jesus loves you, I
love you in Jesus, and you MUST – NEED to start loving yourself. You’re a good
person. I can feel it. Close your eyes for a moment…think about what TRUE LOVE IS…When you
open them again think about Jesus and look through the eyes of Love…Love sees
the finished worked. Love sees through the "I" and the self loathing...Love is Christ crucified for you.
Next to Self Love is LOVE FOR OTHERS!
Love For Others
Did you
know that by showing Love you are showing yourself a true disciple of Jesus! As
Christians; if you step out and show compassion on people, even the ones you
want to hand a bar of soap to, you are showing the world that you are
different, that you want to be different. Remember what I said earlier on, love
is actually unnatural to us because we are such an egocentric society.
Prove
the world wrong! What’s that old saying “Actions speak louder than words.” It’s
true.
Love is
the world changer. When Jesus showed us how much He loved us when He gave up
His life on the cross, it forever changed the course of the world! Love Changes
Circumstances! Love needs to be lived out. It’s not happy unless it’s spread
abroad. Pass it around!
Love
will take advantage of just about every situation because it comes from God.
Love
changed me…I was a sinner who is now redeemed and saved by Grace through Jesus!
The First Next Step
My
favourite band is Petra. I was heartbroken when they retired. They have this
one song that speaks volumes to me. From their 1998 album God Fixation, ‘If I
had to die for someone’….the course and last verse are speaking of Love and the
Love of Jesus:
“I don’t know if I could even if I think I
would, if I had to die for someone if I had to die for someone else, how could
ever give my life to set the guilty free, when I cannot image if I had to die
for someone else like me…
And I am glad that you are not all like me, cuz you laid
down your life and did it willingly, it still amazes me to know, it’s me that
you were thinking of no one else could have a greater Love!”
Love
boils down to one word “sacrifice.” You have to give up something to get it.
Jesus gave His life, what are you willing to give? How about that pity? That’s
a good trade off.
If
Loving God and loving your neighbours are the greatest commandments, what
actions are motivating us to love? In this world, love is very much unnatural.
Love is something we have to consciously work towards. It’s so much easier to
be “I” centered then to put someone before ourselves. Human nature is just so
dang annoying! It’s practically opposite of God!
If you
want that closer walk with the LORD then that fleshly nature needs to die so
that your spiritual nature can rise up in its place. Understand that Jesus does
love you. Understand that you are now and forever a Child of the Most High God!
It’s time to stop putting yourself down. You are a Masterpiece, fashioned by
God’s own hand. You are loved my friend. You are blessed and highly favoured!
AMEN!
CHOOSE TO LOVE...CHOSE WHO TO LOVE! Don't listen to your heart, it LIES...listen to yourself and choose the right road. Don't FALL in love, WALK in Love! Go in with your eyes open! And remember the golden rule... DO UNTO OTHERS, AS YOU WOULD HAVE THEM DO UNTO YOU! That there my friend sums up this whole chapter into one line...
