What Is Love?

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Webers_Home

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Rom 12:16b . . Don't be elitist, but willing to associate with people below
you.

I'd have to say that those instructions apply only in church where it's
understood by Spirit-led Christians that no one in attendance is somehow
better than another. (cf. Jas 2:1-4)

Church managers should be given a higher degree of respect than pew
warmers because they're in positions of authority; but all in all, church is a
congregation of redeemed sinners, and that includes the managers; so we're
all equals on that basis. Christ had to undergo just as much suffering,
indignity, and death to redeem church managers as he did for everyone else
so God forbid that the hierarchy should exhibit a holier-than-thou attitude;
viz: a superiority complex. (cf. Matt 23:2-7)
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marks

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Col 3:12 . . Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels
of mercies

The koiné Greek word for "bowels" in that passage is splagchnon (splangkh'
non) which basically refers to one's intestines; i.e. the tummy; which says to
me that bowels of mercies are emotions rather than just good manners.

In other words: love isn't a totally non emotional academic concept; it
contains things like pity, sympathy, empathy, compassion, thoughtfulness,
and sensitivity. Heart-felt love is easily mimicked, but not all that easy to
feel;
Just so.

Where Peter writes, add to your faith virtue, knowledge, temperance, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, love,

brotherly kindness is of course affections brotherly love, then adding, I like the KJV, Charity.

Charitable in heart and mind and word and deed.

Godliness is from a word meaning "well-worshiping", the right kind of piety, that is to say, the right kind of view of God, worshiping Him in both Spirit and Truth, so as He wants to be worshipped.

When our mind and heart are according to God's will, we will fall in love with others so as to serve them, loving them with a fullness of love, as God loves.

Much love!
 

marks

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A number of factors play a role in the making of an insensitive clod; one of
which is defective areas of the brain called amygdalae. In brief, the
amygdalae control, to a large extent, our emotions; i.e. our feelings,
especially relative to empathy.

I've learned that much or all of the brain is subject to underdevelopment, or maldevelopment, with causes ranging across the board. Genetics, childhood conditions, diseases, abuses, injuries, all can have devastating effects on the brain, especially as these happen in children and young adults.

Impulse control, value and risk assessment can be powerfully effected, resulting in obsessive thoughts, behavioral compulsions, addictions of all sorts, all maintaining and adding to the maldevelopment.

And all having strong effects on our feelings.

I see in this the corruption of the flesh. Good thing we're made new in Christ!

Much love!
 

Webers_Home

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Rom 12:18 . . If possible, so far as it in your power, be at peace with all
men.

Assertive, defensive, demanding, fault-finding, imperious, judgmental,
confrontational, argumentative, bossy, spirited, hard-nosed, implacable,
moody, thin skinned, vindictive, abrasive, spiteful people are not allowed in
heaven. Why? Because heaven is a place of peace (Matt 5:9, Rom 14:17).

Disagreeable people who fight at the drop of a hat simply don't fit in heaven
and besides, not only would they be a fish out of water; but it wouldn't be
fair to the others to let difficult people in to heaven where they would surely
turn it into the same kind of hellish world to live in that they've made the
Earth.

Christians should not be difficult. Of all people, they should be the easiest to
get along with.
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Webers_Home

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Rom 12:20 . . If your personal enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is
thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals upon his
head.

Way back when the television show "
SURVIVOR" was in its second or third
season, two of the women fell out of sorts and one vowed that even if the
other were lying in the street near death from thirst, she'd walk right past
and not give her so much as a drop of water.

Bad form. Christians have to remain civil and not permit detestable people
to dictate the way we treat our fellow men. It is far better for Christ's
followers to exemplify humanitarian principles than satisfy a grudge. I'll
admit it's galling to have to be courteous with people that mistreat us; but
what can I say? It's Christ's wishes.

Matt 5:46-47 . . Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you
greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even
pagans do that?
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Webers_Home

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Rom 14:1 . . Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on
disputable matters.

A strong faith consists of the elements of knowledge, confidence, assurance,
and conviction. A weak faith can be defined as vacillating; viz: one that's not
all that sure whether something is wrong for a Christian; or even that
something is right; in other words, a weak faith lacks the elements of
knowledge, confidence, assurance, and conviction.

Disputable matters are matters of opinion rather than matters of fact.
Opinions are often subjective, biased, and arbitrary, rather than objective,
unbiased, and by-the book. Opinions inevitably invite perpetual debating
that never really gets to the bottom of anything; which, in matters of
spiritual significance is strictly forbidden within the context of the 14th
chapter of Romans; because debatable matters are not matters of doctrine;
but rather; matters of conscience.

We're not talking about black and white doctrines and principles here. Those
are not open to debate. We're talking about gray areas.

"Thou shalt not commit adultery" is black and white; while issues like video
games, music, fashions, foods, cosmetics, movies, self defense, gambling,
swim suits, alcohol, tobacco, firearms, fasting, religious art, crucifixes,
couture, and holy days of obligation are debatable. In regards to those
areas; let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind rather than
somebody else's mind.

Those are things about which each has to decide for themselves according to
the dictates of their own conscience; and God forbid they should impose
their personal dictates upon others and thus become dictatorial because
that's playing God and usurping Christ's sovereign prerogative to make the
rules for his own church.
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Webers_Home

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Rom 14:2-4 . . One man's faith allows him to eat everything, but another
man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The man who eats
everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does
not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has
accepted him.

If somebody sincerely believes that fast food, GMO, high fructose corn
syrup, non organic produce, processed foods, grain-fed beef, raw oysters,
sushi, and/or anything fried in lard is sinful; well; more power to them; but
God forbid they should condemn others who disagree.

So then; whether or not to eat grass-fed beef or grain-fed beef is your call;
although in my judicious estimation; you run a much higher risk of
contracting E.coli 0157-H7 by eating grain-fed beef. But the choice to run
that risk is yours alone; not mine. The important point to note is that either
way, God will accept one's diet just so long as they are convinced in their
own mind it's not a sinful diet. And God forbid that we should undertake to
pressure someone via debating and sophistry to violate their conscience.
_
 

Webers_Home

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Rom 14:5 . . One man considers one day more sacred than another;
another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced
in his own mind.

Common Christian holy days are The Lord's Day (Sunday), Solemnity of
Mary the Mother of God, the Epiphany, Solemnity of Saint Joseph Husband
of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Ascension Trinity Sunday, Solemnity of
Saints Peter and Paul, Good Friday, the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin
Mary, All Saints, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed
Virgin Mary, the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ (Christmas), and the
Sabbath. Some would probably include Easter and Ash Wednesday, et al.

If your denomination, or your church of choice, rules that days like the
above are sacred, then for you they are. Whether God himself really and
truly rules them as sacred is irrelevant. What matters is whether you are
convinced He does because the 14th of Romans' focus is upon matters of
conscience rather than matters of fact.
_
 

Webers_Home

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Rom 14:13a . .Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another.

Within the context of the 14th of Romans, "passing judgment" pertains to
criticizing others for refusal to accept and/or comply with your own gray
area beliefs and practices.
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The wind

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John 13:35 . . By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you
love one another.

For many of us who grew up in dysfunctional families, broken homes, foster
systems, gangs, and/or orphanages et al; the concept of love doesn't
resonate in our thinking; viz: it just goes in one ear and right out the other
because we quite literally have no points of reference in our minds to aid
comprehending what Christ means by love. We know what Hollywood and
contemporary music mean by love, but we haven't a clue what Christ
means.

This is why the epistles are so valuable-- many of them not only show
Christ's followers how to recognize love when they encounter it; but also
how to exemplify it in their own lives so that those of us who were deprived
of love growing up are not left to figure it out on our own. For example:

Col 4:6 . . Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt

Grace can be defined as kind, courteous, inclined to good will, generous,
charitable, altruistic, compassionate, sympathetic, thoughtful, cordial,
affable, genial, sociable, cheerful, warm, sensitive, hospitable, considerate,
and tactful.

One of salt's purposes is to enhance flavor and make otherwise naturally
insipid and/or bad-tasting things palatable, viz: diplomacy; which can be
roughly defined as conversation that makes an effort to maintain peace
rather than provoke conflict and/or annoy people and make them
uncomfortable.
_
Grace is referring to Mercy and salt is referring to Faith. And when Jesus commanded that his children should love one another, he was referring to them doing his Commandments. As it is written, And this is loving one another, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment to love, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.
 

Webers_Home

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Rom 14:2-4 . . One man's faith allows him to eat everything, but another
man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The man who eats
everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does
not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has
accepted him.

If somebody sincerely believes that fast food, GMO, high fructose corn
syrup, non organic produce, processed foods, grain-fed beef, raw oysters,
sushi, and/or anything fried in lard is sinful; well; more power to them; but
God forbid they should condemn others who disagree.

So then; whether or not to eat grass-fed beef or grain-fed beef is your call;
although in my judicious estimation; you run a much higher risk of
contracting E.coli 0157-H7 by eating grain-fed beef. But the choice to run
that risk is yours alone; not mine. The important point to note is that either
way, God will accept one's diet just so long as they are convinced in their
own mind it's not a sinful diet. And God forbid that we should undertake to
pressure someone via debating and sophistry to violate their conscience.
_
 

Webers_Home

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Rom 14:5 . . One man considers one day more sacred than another;
another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced
in his own mind.

Common Christian holy days are The Lord's Day (Sunday), Solemnity of
Mary the Mother of God, the Epiphany, Solemnity of Saint Joseph Husband
of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Ascension Trinity Sunday, Solemnity of
Saints Peter and Paul, Good Friday, the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin
Mary, All Saints, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed
Virgin Mary, the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ (Christmas), and the
Sabbath. Some would probably include Easter and Ash Wednesday, et al.

If your denomination, or your church of choice, rules that days like the
above are sacred, then for you they are. Whether God himself really and
truly rules them as sacred is irrelevant. What matters is whether you are
convinced He does because the focus of the 14th of Romans is upon matters
of conscience rather than matters of fact.
_
 

Webers_Home

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Rom 14:13a . .Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another.

Within the context of the 14th of Romans, "passing judgment" pertains to
criticizing others for refusal to accept and/or comply with your own gray
area beliefs and practices.
_
 

Webers_Home

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Rom 14:13b . . Make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or
obstacle in your brother's way.

The Greek word translated "stumbling block" means a stub. For example:
one year I cut down a troublesome bush in my front yard and left a bit of a
stump sticking up out of the ground that later damaged my lawn mower
when I accidentally ran over it while cutting the grass; which had grown tall
enough to conceal the stump. In that respect, stumbling blocks are hazards
not easily detected.

Within the context of the 14th of Romans, I would equate stumbling blocks
to the clever sophistry that silver-tongued orators employ to persuade
people to do things contrary to their convictions and their conscience. In
other words; there are people out there with the skills to make a lie sound
like the God's truth (cf. Eph 4:11-14) and if you get pulled into a debate
with those people you'll probably lose.


NOTE: The Star Wars era spawned a pertinent colloquialism that goes like
this: "Let the Wookie win one." When it comes to gray-area disputes, that
colloquialism is pretty good advice.
_
 

Webers_Home

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Rom 14:14-16 . . I know and am perfectly sure on the authority of The
Lord Jesus that no food, in and of itself, is wrong to eat. But if someone
believes it is wrong, then for that person it is wrong. And if another Christian
is distressed by what you eat, you are not acting in love if you eat it. Don't
let your eating ruin someone for whom Christ died. Then you will not be
condemned for doing something you know is alright.

For example: We may believe that there is nothing wrong with eating non
Kosher foods; but our Christian dinner companion might feel very strongly
about it. Well; sure, we can get by with eating non-Kosher foods; but Rom
14:14-16 is saying don't. In other words; it is Christ's wishes that we
restrain ourselves from eating offensive foods in front of our Christian
companions out of respect for their feelings about it.
_
 

Webers_Home

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Rom 14:19 . . Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to
peace and to mutual edification.

The Greek word for "edification" is oikodome (oy-kod-om-ay') which is a
word related to the building trades; and in this instance would be related to
structural improvements like a new wing, or a bedroom, or another floor;
and in many instances adds square footage to an already-existing structure
and/or improves its appearance, its value, and it's utility. Edification then,
builds up instead of tearing down.

Webster's defines "peace" as a state in which there is no war or fighting; viz:
harmony and mutual concord.

2Cor 12:19-20 . . For I am afraid that when I come I may not find you as I
want you to be, and you may not find me as you want me to be. I fear that
there may be quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, factions, slander,
gossip, arrogance and disorder.
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Webers_Home

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Rom 14:20-21 . . Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All
food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to eat anything that causes someone
else to stumble.

The critters that God lists in the Jews' covenanted law as unsuitable for food
aren't intrinsically unsuitable. They're only unsuitable for the Jews because
that's how God wants it for His people. But outside the covenant; and for
everybody else: whatever you'd like to eat can be eaten; all flora and all
fauna.

Gen 9:3 . . Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I
gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.

Acts 10:15 . .The voice spoke to him a second time; "Do not call anything
impure that God has made clean."

But still; you wouldn't want to invite someone over for dinner serving foods
that they sincerely believe are wrong for them to eat. Prepare something
else that you both can eat. That's the Christian way to go about it; it's also
the sympathetic way to go about it. There are times when it's appropriate to
accommodate people's feelings about certain things. The world has enough
intolerance as is; don't add to it.
_
 

Webers_Home

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Rom 14:22a . . So whatever you personally believe in debatable areas
keep between yourself and God.
_
 

justbyfaith

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Rom 14:22a . . So whatever you personally believe in debatable areas
keep between yourself and God.
_
Unless you hold them to be essentials of the faith...in which case you ought to debate them until you convince your adversary of the truth that will save them.
 

Webers_Home

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Rom 14:22b-23 . . Blessed is the man who does not condemn himself by
what he approves. But the man who has doubts is condemned if he eats,
because his eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from
faith is sin.

In other words, it's possible to be wrong even when you're right because it's
a sin to forge ahead when one's conscience is not sure it's okay to do so.

I once knew a Christian who felt guilty just setting foot inside a BlockBuster
video store. Was he silly for feeling that way? Not in his mind; and it's your
own personal moral compass that counts in gray areas. Some Christians
can't permit themselves to dine in a restaurant that serves alcohol; while
others see nothing wrong with it. If those two kinds of Christians should
perchance dine out together, it's the more sensitive conscience that
determines where to eat.

In other words; it makes good spiritual sense to avoid insisting upon your
freedoms and rights sometimes in order to prevent dragging your fellow
Christians into something that makes them feel guilty and/or uncomfortable.
_
 
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