True Love?

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Permalink Reply by Charles Burwell on September 14, 2013 at 11:07am

LAUS DEO

I was reading a commentery on I Corithians several years ago. I believe that the commentery was quoting a man named Chrysostom where he described the love God speaks of as 'unconquerable benevolence'. He went on to explain that this meant that we should only desire the best for someone irregardless of their opinions , actions or attitudes toward us.

This perfectly describes exactly how the Lord has ,and does, treat us. Scriptures are loaded with references to the aazing grace of God even towards those who hated Him and His ways. "While we were yet sinners , Christ died for us". Even after being beaten, mocked and forced to carry a cross to the place of His execution His prayer was for forgiveness for His persecutors.

Even while He was on the cross He was mocked and yet prayed for His Father to forgive them. Jesus tells us (in the sermon on the mount) to bless those who curse us, pray for those who spitefully use us ,etc. This is how the love of God differs from our concept of 'love'. 

The word 'agape' ( which is the greek word used for the love God demonstrates) involves a love of the will and not (at first anyhow) of feelings or affections. We are to seek the good of all irregardles of our personal feelings or prejudices towards them.  We cannot do this without the grace of God working in our lives. We must allow God to love others through us.

 

Only God can truly love and we can only learn to love the way God does when we surrender our wills to Him. All of these are simply my take on the concept of love as the Bible refers to it.

 

Godbless

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Permalink Reply by LAUS DEO on September 17, 2013 at 10:39am

Yes. Jesus defined love for us in the cross. If I remove Jesus from this world, there is no love!

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Permalink Reply by Carla on September 16, 2013 at 2:26am

1 Corinthians 13

The Excellence of Love

13 If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³ And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body ^[a]to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.

⁴ Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, ⁵ does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, ⁶ does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; ^7 [b]bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

⁸ Love never fails; but if there are gifts of ^[c]prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away. ⁹ For we know in part and we prophesy in part; ¹⁰ but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away. ¹¹ When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I ^[d]became a man, I did away with childish things. ¹² For now we see in a mirror ^[e]dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. ¹³ But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the ^[f]greatest of these is love.

What is Love?

I understand that Love is sacrifice.  Jesus's sacrifice for us is Love. 

When I read the above scripture on the excellence of Love... I see it as though everywhere it says 'Love' it should say 'Jesus'.

 

I believe the question 'What is Love' needs a different starting point.  Love is more of a 'Who'.

I can understand this question better and it is more answerable for me when phrased this way.... 'Who is Love'?

the answer of coarse is 'God is Love'.

When we know the answer to the question 'Who is Love', and we can see that God is Love, only then can we begin to answer 'What is Love' as we begin to know God and His Character.

Then we can go on to agree with scripture above as noted:

⁴ Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, ⁵ does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, ⁶ does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; ^7 [b]bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

 

Do we love each other?

Are we patient?  Are we kind?  Are we jealous?  Do we brag?  Are we arrogant?  Do we act unbecomingly?  Do we seek our own?  Are we provoked?  Do we take into account a wrong suffered?  Do we rejoice in the truth?  Can we/Do we bear all things, believe all things, hope all things and endure all things?

 

At best we are perfectly  imperfect...but learning and growing.  God is merciful to us as we learn and grow, as we should be to others.

 

Can we find true love now in this world?

Yes.  Knowing Jesus is finding true Love.

 

Blessings, Carla

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Permalink Reply by LAUS DEO on September 17, 2013 at 10:43am

Only the person who is having closer walk with Jesus can exhibit love in this world!

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Permalink Reply by Kristie Jamison on February 17, 2014 at 7:26pm

to me true love is the heavenly father loving you that God gave his son Jesus Christ to die for us dont waste the gift tell everyone you know ............................................

 

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Permalink Reply by David Samuel Milumba on February 18, 2014 at 12:54am

We can not give what we do not have for us to love others first we have to receive the love of our God which He demonstrated when He loved us whilst sinnsers by sending His beloved son to die for us. Now when we have God's love within our hearts we will be able to love others because we have it within us. Only the creator of love can make us love others as we love ourselves.

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