Wednesday 6 June 2012

What is LOVE...?



1 Corinthians 13:4-8  Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant  or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;   it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.  Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 


They are 16 key points what LOVE is:

  1. Patient 
  2. kind 
  3. does not envy
  4. does not boast
  5. is not proud
  6. is not rude
  7. is not self-seeking 
  8. is not easily angered
  9. keeps no record of wrongs
  10. does not delight in evil  
  11. rejoices with truth 
  12. always protects 
  13. always trusts
  14. always hopes 
  15. always perseveres 
  16. never fails
Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Notice that fruit is singular. Love is the one fruit of the spirit. If you look from the original language of the text, the fruit of the spirit is truly singular it is not the fruit(s) of the spirit. Love is the fruit of the spirit. The eight words that come after, "... joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control"  are merely further descriptions of the one the fruit of the spirit. In other words love is full of  joy, full of kindness and so on.  

 



Many have a weak notion of love as simply a feeling. A closer look at the word shows us that love is a choice. God so loved the world, that He made the choice to do something (John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life"
The following three verses make  it very clear that love is a decision: 
1 Thessalonians 5:8  But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation 


1 Timothy 6:11 But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. 


2 Timothy 2:22 So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.  


LOVE  is not only a choice is made once, but it is a choice that we make daily. We should be known for having our whole lifestyle revolve around love. It is the filter  that all of our words, attitudes, and actions have to go through before we speak or act 


2 John 1:6 ...as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it.(love) 


Jude 1:21 keep yourselves in the love of God, .......... 


Ephesians 5:2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God...


1 Corinthians 16:14 Let all that you do be done in love.  


Love has a certain way that it treats others. As we have seen it is kind, patient, gentle, keeps no record of wrongs  etc. Love also has unique quality about it in that it can cover sin 1 Peter 4:8 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. 


We are called to love each other deeply, and many have been hindered from doing that because sin has been left exposed. Sin needs to be repented of forgiven and the record destroyed.  Without love, we will still see each other through the lens of that past violation. Love literally gives us back the eyes to see each other without sin .  


Even in the cases where confrontation and exposure are needed to deal with sin, we have a model for how to handle that. The truth must be spoken in love. This pertains to our motivations. We are not to speak the truth just to validate ourselves; we don't speak the truth to injure others; we speak the truth out of a heart of love - a heart that desires healing and restoration  Ephesians 4:15...speak the truth in love..


Colossians 3:12-14 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,   bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.   And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.  

Love is put in the perfect place above all other virtues. It is of the utmost importance. Not only is it the number one priority, but it also is the glue that holds all the other virtues in perfect balance. It would be easy for someone whose highest value is courage to mistreat others. But courage will function at its optimum capacity when used under love. 


Love is as powerfully as two evil forces in the world, fear and death. Song of Solomon 8:6 ... love is strong as death..... and 1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.  


Love is literally a force in the spirit realm. It is as strong as death, and perfect love casts out fear. Many in the church have pursued greater faith but even faith does  not function correctly without love Galatians 5:6 ...faith works through love. 


Speaking of faith, Jesus said," If you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you, I say to you,Matthew 17:20, Luke 17:6 If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’and it would obey you.." 



Faith has a power or force great enough to move a mountain, now consider the following truth: 1 Corinthians 13:;13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. This is an amazing statement: love  is greater force than hope or even faith. If a mustard seed of faith can move a mountain or uproot and cast a tree into the sea then what kind of magnificent power dwells in LOVE. What if we lived our life with even a mustard of love ? It would be way beyond moving mountains.  I believe  God is calling the church worldwide to step into 


Ephesians 3:17-19 And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know to know his love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of  of God.  


What would being "filled with fullness of God" look like I would say that it would be purest form of being like JESUS. Because the word says Colossians 1:19 For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell



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