What Is True Love?

Enow · Mar 5, 2020

1 Corinthians 13:4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, 5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; 6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; 7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.8 Charity never faileth....

John 15:12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. 13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

Ephesians 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; 26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, 27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.... 32 This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. 33 Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.

Christ's love is far different than romantic love or other kind of love.

The problem with modern day marriages is the practice of the couple adding vows of love towards each other when no one should be adding vows to the covenant of marriage that God is performing, and when love is not boastful, all the more reason not to.

Vows to each other can lead to temptations by the devil to sow discords towards each other by keeping a list of wrongs where the other has failed to keep their vows of love. It can work the other way where the spouse sees his or her own failure and judge himself or herself as not really truly loving the spouse and wondering if they had made a mistake in getting married.

I know how spectacular and swooning it can be for having someone you love promises love back. I look at Shania Twain music video "From This Moment On" and I find myself wanting to believe her sincerity. The song is based actually on her vows and her first husband's vows and so it is hard to image she winded up divorced.

Then you have the religious expectations of commitment of the spouse from the other and yet there is no voiced commitment of the receiving spouse of that commitment. One can see that on her side, if the husband does not make her weak in the knees any more, she is gone?

Many Christian marriages are suffering and ending in divorce. So what is true love? Maybe it should not be on passing romantic feelings but on Christ's love instead, relying on Him all the time to supply that fruit of the Spirit along with any other fruit needed to love the spouse.

Pisteuo · Mar 5, 2020

I’ve always wondered if people had a warped man-made idea of what love is supposed to be. How God intended us to love. I watched my parents divorce at such an early age and it really affected me deeply. I stopped believing anyone who said they loved me forever. Starting thinking we throw the word love around mighty easily. And in the last ten years I have tried to become love more than just expecting it from others. The world views love as “I love you if you love me back” instead of “I love you whether you love me back or not”. Knowing true love takes no account of suffered wrong. No thought for itself. Love is a verb but often treated as a noun. A word that should come from the heart rather than the brain. Love should be what we become, as in the image of God, who is Love.
....I met my wife at a free Tim McGraw concert and Shania Twain opened for him back before either one of them were very popular. We were 17 and will be together for 26 years this year. Love wins every battle if we let it.

Renniks · Mar 5, 2020

Enow said:
The problem with modern day marriages is the practice of the couple adding vows of love towards each other when no one should be adding vows to the covenant of marriage that God is performing, and when love is not boastful, all the more reason not to.

You want to remove wedding vows? Weird. Seems to me the Vows just affirm what scripture says marriage should be.

Enow · Mar 5, 2020

Pisteuo said:
I’ve always wondered if people had a warped man-made idea of what love is supposed to be. How God intended us to love. I watched my parents divorce at such an early age and it really affected me deeply. I stopped believing anyone who said they loved me forever. Starting thinking we throw the word love around mighty easily. And in the last ten years I have tried to become love more than just expecting it from others. The world views love as “I love you if you love me back” instead of “I love you whether you love me back or not”. Knowing true love takes no account of suffered wrong. No thought for itself. Love is a verb but often treated as a noun. A word that should come from the heart rather than the brain. Love should be what we become, as in the image of God, who is Love.
....I met my wife at a free Tim McGraw concert and Shania Twain opened for him back before either one of them were very popular. We were 17 and will be together for 26 years this year. Love wins every battle if we let it.

Thank you for sharing.

Enow · Mar 5, 2020

Renniks said:
You want to remove wedding vows? Weird. Seems to me the Vows just affirm what scripture says marriage should be.

Have you ever considered that mankind added wedding vows to the marriage ceremony?

Is marriage covenant something God performs or not without adding wedding vows to it?

Then let's look at a man's covenant.

Galatians 3:15 Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto.

The same goes for no adding to God's covenant of marriage or even for trying to take His covenant of marriage in their mouths.

Psalm 50:16 But unto the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or that thou shouldest take my covenant in thy mouth? 17 Seeing thou hatest instruction, and casteth my words behind thee.

Think about the vows of love given to each other at the altar. Whether it be promises or plans of how you will love tomorrow, it is of evil.

James 4:13 Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: 14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. 15 For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. 16 But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil. 17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

So even in light of the New Covenant where we are to rest in His promises to us that He will provide the love we need to love others, we do this by faith in Jesus Christ being Our Good Shepherd; not by keeping a promise to love the spouse, or any one else for that matter.

Matthew 5:33 Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths: 34 But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne: 35 Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. 36 Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. 37 But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.

Remove the extra wedding vows of boastful love, and just agree to the marriage covenant of taking the other as a spouse whereby God performs the marriage covenant that they are one flesh from that point on, trusting Jesus Christ to do His work in us whereby the fruits of righteousness, hence His love, will be provided for each other for the good times and the bad.

Matthew 5:33 Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths: 34 But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne: 35 Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. 36 Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. 37 But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.

Believers that finally see this error, can ask the Lord for forgiveness and to set them free from those extra vows of boastful love and rest in His Covenant to them for the love, and all the other fruits of the Spirit they need to love each other, and He will do it.

1 John 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

Galatians 5:1Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.... 5 For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.

Philippians 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:... 11 Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.

Renniks · Mar 5, 2020

Enow said:
Have you ever considered that mankind added wedding vows to the marriage ceremony?

Is marriage covenant something God performs or not without adding wedding vows to it?

Then let's look at a man's covenant.

Galatians 3:15 Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto.

The same goes for no adding to God's covenant of marriage or even for trying to take His covenant of marriage in their mouths.

Psalm 50:16 But unto the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or that thou shouldest take my covenant in thy mouth? 17 Seeing thou hatest instruction, and casteth my words behind thee.

Think about the vows of love given to each other at the altar. Whether it be promises or plans of how you will love tomorrow, it is of evil.

James 4:13 Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: 14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. 15 For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. 16 But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil. 17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

So even in light of the New Covenant where we are to rest in His promises to us that He will provide the love we need to love others, we do this by faith in Jesus Christ being Our Good Shepherd; not by keeping a promise to love the spouse, or any one else for that matter.

Matthew 5:33 Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths: 34 But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne: 35 Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. 36 Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. 37 But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.

Remove the extra wedding vows of boastful love, and just agree to the marriage covenant of taking the other as a spouse whereby God performs the marriage covenant that they are one flesh from that point on, trusting Jesus Christ to do His work in us whereby the fruits of righteousness, hence His love, will be provided for each other for the good times and the bad.

Matthew 5:33 Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths: 34 But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne: 35 Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. 36 Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. 37 But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.

Believers that finally see this error, can ask the Lord for forgiveness and to set them free from those extra vows of boastful love and rest in His Covenant to them for the love, and all the other fruits of the Spirit they need to love each other, and He will do it.

1 John 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

Galatians 5:1Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.... 5 For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.

Philippians 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:... 11 Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.

A wedding vow is a promise made, not an oath.
Jesus’ primary problem with making oaths is the fact that we cannot fulfill them. By contrast, God makes vows, so vows are not intrinsically wrong (Ps. 110:4).

Jesus does say that we can vow to tell the truth. In verse 37, Jesus says, “Let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is of evil” (cf. 2 Cor. 1:17). Paul himself practiced taking oaths of telling the truth. In Galatians 1:20, we read, “I assure you before God that I am not lying.”

Jesus’ primary problem with vows is twofold: (1) false vows and (2) vows that we cannot fulfill.

Marriage vows don't fall into these categories

Enow · Mar 5, 2020

Renniks said:
A wedding vow is a promise made, not an oath.

A promise or a vow is binding just as an oath is.

Numbers 30:2 If a man vow a vow unto the Lord, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond; he shall not break his word, he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth.

Ecclesiastes 5:4 When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed. 5 Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.6 Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands? 7 For in the multitude of dreams and many words there are also divers vanities: but fear thou God.

Jesus’ primary problem with making oaths is the fact that we cannot fulfill them. By contrast, God makes vows, so vows are not intrinsically wrong (Ps. 110:4).

God is able to perform and finish His vows.

Isaiah 55:11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

Jesus does say that we can vow to tell the truth. In verse 37, Jesus says, “Let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is of evil” (cf. 2 Cor. 1:17).

Let your statement be "Yes, yes" or "No, no" is just that without the "I promise" to it since anything more than that is of evil.

Matthew 5:33 Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths: 34 But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne: 35 Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. 36 Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. 37 But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.

2 Corinthians 1:17 When I therefore was thus minded, did I use lightness? or the things that I purpose, do I purpose according to the flesh, that with me there should be yea yea, and nay nay?

Neither reference supports making a promise or a vow or an oath of any kind when we have to decrease for others to see His workmanship in our lives in how we are following Him by faith in Him and all His promises to us.

So no. Jesus told us why we cannot make an oath and not even to swear by anything to show the seriousness of keeping that oath because we cannot make one hair white or black; meaning we can't do God's work in us in making us good or to do good by the deed of the law of keeping a promise.

If we could make ourselves good or to do good by making a promise, then Christ died in vain.

That courtroom swearing in on the Bible is a false practice because His words says God cannot help you keep that vow to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. The irony is you can be charged with contempt of court if you do not limit your answers to yes or no to questions that are not really yes or no to answer to and yet you are sworn to tell the whole truth? The Judicial court practically is setting up witnesses to sin by that oath when both lawyers are interested in winning the case; not about getting to the truth of the matter in the pursuit of justice.

Society we are raised in, smacks with Freemasonry's influence, putting oaths even for the office of elders and deacons in churches and even Graham's crusade's altar call that if you are not sure you are saved, come forward and make a commitment to follow Christ. As if that was not enough, the Promise Keepers' program went across America media wise in 1994 as getting all the denominational churches involved in it.

That is evidence of how so many in that time departed from faith in resorting to their own power to make themselves good and to do good & fail.

Paul himself practiced taking oaths of telling the truth. In Galatians 1:20, we read, “I assure you before God that I am not lying.”

Galatians 1:20 Now the things which I write unto you, behold, before God, I lie not. KJV

No promises there in the KJV. I will point out that the Promise Keepers' program used the CEV at St. Louis PK convention where they chnaged most of His words and Paul's words as if it is okay to make a promise. Examples below;

Galatians 5:1Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. 2 Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. KJV

Galatians 5:1Christ has set us free! This means we are really free. Now hold on to your freedom and don’t ever become slaves of the Law again.
2 I, Paul, promise you that Christ won’t do you any good if you get circumcised.CEV

Matthew 5:Matthew 5:33 Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths: 34 But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne: 35 Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. 36 Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. 37 But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil. KJV

Matthew 5:33 You know that our ancestors were told, “Don’t use the Lord’s name to make a promise unless you are going to keep it.” 34 But I tell you not to swear by anything when you make a promise! Heaven is God’s throne, so don’t swear by heaven. 35 The earth is God’s footstool, so don’t swear by the earth. Jerusalem is the city of the great king, so don’t swear by it. 36 Don’t swear by your own head. You cannot make one hair white or black. 37 When you make a promise, say only “Yes” or “No.” Anything else comes from the devil. CEV

So if you are still not convinced and the CEV is the Bible you are using, I understand why you think otherwise, but this is why I rely on the KJV for the meat of His words to discern good and evil by His words with His help, of course.

Jesus’ primary problem with vows is twofold: (1) false vows and (2) vows that we cannot fulfill.

Marriage vows don't fall into these categories

On the days where a spouse is not keeping his or her own vows fully is not considered keeping those vows at all in God's eyes. No one will be justified by those vows of love because by those vows of love is the knowledge of sin. You either do it or you are not. You either finish it or you are leaving that vow open which is not good for anyone to do when you are required by God to finish it.

Jesus said in the old times, people perform their oaths to the Lord; oaths that are open ended when a believer can never say it is finished is sin.

Brother, we should not be living by any yoke of bondage whereby men can boast in and they do boast in some of those vows of love.

Either we are standing fast in the liberty which Christ has set us free or we are entering a yoke of bondage to finish something "good" by the flesh. A believer cannot do both. So either a believer recognize the sin, thanks to Jesus Christ, and call on Him to forgive him and set him free to rest in His promises to Him to do His work in us to do good and to be good, or we continue to live in sin, using God's grace in saying we are keeping those promises when in actuality, by the deeds of the law, we are not in the sight of men as well as God's.

Pearl · Mar 5, 2020

There are different forms of love and all of the can be 'true'. There is family love, parental love, love between friends, romantic love, love for God and perhaps other forms too. It's a shame that today so many people associate love with sex.

Renniks · Mar 5, 2020

Enow said:
A promise or a vow is binding just as an oath is.

Numbers 30:2 If a man vow a vow unto the Lord, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond; he shall not break his word, he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth.

Ecclesiastes 5:4 When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed. 5 Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.6 Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands? 7 For in the multitude of dreams and many words there are also divers vanities: but fear thou God.

God is able to perform and finish His vows.

Isaiah 55:11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

Let your statement be "Yes, yes" or "No, no" is just that without the "I promise" to it since anything more than that is of evil.

Matthew 5:33 Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths: 34 But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne: 35 Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. 36 Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. 37 But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.

2 Corinthians 1:17 When I therefore was thus minded, did I use lightness? or the things that I purpose, do I purpose according to the flesh, that with me there should be yea yea, and nay nay?

Neither reference supports making a promise or a vow or an oath of any kind when we have to decrease for others to see His workmanship in our lives in how we are following Him by faith in Him and all His promises to us.

So no. Jesus told us why we cannot make an oath and not even to swear by anything to show the seriousness of keeping that oath because we cannot make one hair white or black; meaning we can't do God's work in us in making us good or to do good by the deed of the law of keeping a promise.

If we could make ourselves good or to do good by making a promise, then Christ died in vain.

That courtroom swearing in on the Bible is a false practice because His words says God cannot help you keep that vow to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. The irony is you can be charged with contempt of court if you do not limit your answers to yes or no to questions that are not really yes or no to answer to and yet you are sworn to tell the whole truth? The Judicial court practically is setting up witnesses to sin by that oath when both lawyers are interested in winning the case; not about getting to the truth of the matter in the pursuit of justice.

Society we are raised in, smacks with Freemasonry's influence, putting oaths even for the office of elders and deacons in churches and even Graham's crusade's altar call that if you are not sure you are saved, come forward and make a commitment to follow Christ. As if that was not enough, the Promise Keepers' program went across America media wise in 1994 as getting all the denominational churches involved in it.

That is evidence of how so many in that time departed from faith in resorting to their own power to make themselves good and to do good & fail.

Galatians 1:20 Now the things which I write unto you, behold, before God, I lie not. KJV

No promises there in the KJV. I will point out that the Promise Keepers' program used the CEV at St. Louis PK convention where they chnaged most of His words and Paul's words as if it is okay to make a promise. Examples below;

Galatians 5:1Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. 2 Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. KJV

Galatians 5:1Christ has set us free! This means we are really free. Now hold on to your freedom and don’t ever become slaves of the Law again.
2 I, Paul, promise you that Christ won’t do you any good if you get circumcised.CEV

Matthew 5:Matthew 5:33 Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths: 34 But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne: 35 Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. 36 Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. 37 But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil. KJV

Matthew 5:33 You know that our ancestors were told, “Don’t use the Lord’s name to make a promise unless you are going to keep it.” 34 But I tell you not to swear by anything when you make a promise! Heaven is God’s throne, so don’t swear by heaven. 35 The earth is God’s footstool, so don’t swear by the earth. Jerusalem is the city of the great king, so don’t swear by it. 36 Don’t swear by your own head. You cannot make one hair white or black. 37 When you make a promise, say only “Yes” or “No.” Anything else comes from the devil. CEV

So if you are still not convinced and the CEV is the Bible you are using, I understand why you think otherwise, but this is why I rely on the KJV for the meat of His words to discern good and evil by His words with His help, of course.

On the days where a spouse is not keeping his or her own vows fully is not considered keeping those vows at all in God's eyes. No one will be justified by those vows of love because by those vows of love is the knowledge of sin. You either do it or you are not. You either finish it or you are leaving that vow open which is not good for anyone to do when you are required by God to finish it.

Jesus said in the old times, people perform their oaths to the Lord; oaths that are open ended when a believer can never say it is finished is sin.

Brother, we should not be living by any yoke of bondage whereby men can boast in and they do boast in some of those vows of love.

Either we are standing fast in the liberty which Christ has set us free or we are entering a yoke of bondage to finish something "good" by the flesh. A believer cannot do both. So either a believer recognize the sin, thanks to Jesus Christ, and call on Him to forgive him and set him free to rest in His promises to Him to do His work in us to do good and to be good, or we continue to live in sin, using God's grace in saying we are keeping those promises when in actuality, by the deeds of the law, we are not in the sight of men as well as God's.

I wasnt' aware that you were a fatalist... no I can't make one hair white or black, but I can decide to keep the promises I make or decide not to keep them, otherwise all the commandments of God are pointless. Yes, we have to rely on God to enable us to do what we can't do ourselves, but that in itself is a free choice we make to do good or evil.

Enow · Mar 5, 2020

Pearl said:
There are different forms of love and all of the can be 'true'. There is family love, parental love, love between friends, romantic love, love for God and perhaps other forms too. It's a shame that today so many people associate love with sex.

True, but in all those examples, no matter how much the spirit is willing, the flesh is weak, therefore what is impossible for man, is possible for God and as believers we can turn to Jesus Christ at that throne of grace for help for the love we need to love others by, even our enemies.

Enow · Mar 5, 2020

Renniks said:
I wasnt' aware that you were a fatalist... no I can't make one hair white or black, but I can decide to keep the promises I make or decide not to keep them, otherwise all the commandments of God are pointless. Yes, we have to rely on God to enable us to do what we can't do ourselves, but that in itself is a free choice we make to do good or evil.

God has made the New Covenant with you and told you that He is going to do it; that He will do His work in you and provide the love you need to love your wife and others with His love. By trusting Him, believing Him, is why and how God enables you, because that is how we follow Him, by faith.

By the works of the law, no. God will not help until you acknowledge you can't do it. He will forgive you, set you free from your yoke of bondage to rest in Him and all His promises to you to help you to follow Him by faith in Him alone.

God will not help a believer keep his or her promise, because by His word, they kept it all by themselves. ( Numbers 30:2 ) If God could help believers keep their promises, then there would be no need to fear God in making any promises whatsoever.. If a guy says "I promise to fly off the Empire State Building like Superman and God is going to help me too".... well, we know how that will wind up, more than a bug splat on somebody's windshield on a car. down below.

It took me a long time to understand that anything I make, a covenant, promise, vow, commitment, or an oath, that is me telling the world and God that I am going to do it, and when God had made the Covenant and He said He was going to do it and all He had asked from me is to believe on "me", I was humbled that day and I was glad to finally rely on Him all the time for His help in following Him, thus getting to know Him & the power of His resurrection when I see Him helping me to follow Him more so than from what I could not do otherwise.

Renniks · Mar 5, 2020

Enow said:
God has made the New Covenant with you and told you that He is going to do it; that He will do His work in you and provide the love you need to love your wife and others with His love. By trusting Him, believing Him, is why and how God enables you, because that is how we follow Him, by faith.

And keeping the faith requires that we keep our initial " vow" to trust in him instead of ourselves. It's much the same as a marriage. We make a promise and keep it in spite of what ever life and God gives us, by asking for his help. It seems to me, that the absence of a promise would make it easier to decide that this marriage just isn't God's will and feel justified that he didn't choose to keep us together.

Enow · Mar 5, 2020

Renniks said:
And keeping the faith requires that we keep our initial " vow" to trust in him instead of ourselves. It's much the same as a marriage. We make a promise and keep it in spite of what ever life and God gives us, by asking for his help. It seems to me, that the absence of a promise would make it easier to decide that this marriage just isn't God's will and feel justified that he didn't choose to keep us together.

in 1994, I have found that when I was asked by the Lord through a reading in the Daily Bread or the Upper Room to decide this day whom you will serve, the Lord Jesus Christ or something else in His name; I made the choice and said "You, of course," but that sense of urgency was still there and so I prayed, "Please help me to do it" and then I got His peace. A week later, I was exposed to the holy laughter movement. It took me a short while afterwards to figure it out that it was that apostasy the Lord protected me from and kept me from serving that movement. Boy, I sure felt dumb to not see that what it was He was warning me about, but He came through.

Before that moment, another growth in the knowledge of the Lord happen in 1994. I had picked up the habit of cussing out at the warehouse whenever no one was around. One day I came across a pamphlet from Bill Rudge Ministries where they had used scripture to convict me of the words of my mouth, but in the back, it led me to make a covenant with my mouth, and so I did to not cuss any more like that at the warehouse. The very next day, I was worse than I ever was before. Accusing thoughts filled my head saying, "You are not His! If you were His, He would have helped you keep your covenant." I had stopped listening to the devil but I was at my wits end and so I prayed silently to God, "Why aren't you helping me? You know I don't want to do this!"

A small still voice came, not audible, but I heard Him saying, "You made the covenant. You said you were going to do it. I made the Covenant with you and I said I am going to do it. All I ask from you is to believe in Me". I was humbled that day.

When Promise Keepers' program was in every church in the valley, as my former church was epic center for it, I tried to warn the church but to no avail. There were 2 Bible studies I was going to and each one was talking about the P.K. One group said they don't make promises to God, they knew better than to do that, but to each other in helping one another to keep their promises; the other group said the opposite where man cannot always be around to help them keep promises, and so they make promises to God. I was never at that convention in Pittsburgh but I know it is about making promises to both God and man. One can read the brochure and literature to know what it is about.

Anyway, as I was trying to warn one Bible study group, a Catholic/Mason said "Well, isn't a commitment to follow Christ like a promise?" It was then that it hit me for why I had been failing for so long in following Him. I was doing the best I can in keeping that commitment to make Jesus Lord of my life and failing, and so when I call on God to help, He does, but then to show my appreciation, I go right back to doing the best I can in keeping that commitment. It was then that He really had set me free to rest in His Covenant that He will do His work in me to help me to follow Him and He does.

Now I know we are to not believer every spirit but test them but scriptures lined up in reproving any promise a believer makes as a work of the flesh as being under the law. Scripture proves God cannot help a believer keep a promise because His word says we have to do all that proceeds our of our mouths for why Jesus warned us against it. We are to be the work of His hands and we cannot testify to our works by the deeds of the law but by our faith in Him in how we can follow Him. Those scriptures was shown to you in post #7 in this thread.

It is a scary thought, thinking how vulnerable I am in how much I need Jesus to rely on Him all the time for following Him, but I get to know Him and the power of His resurrection when I stop looking to myself doing the best I can, thinking He will do the rest when in actuality, He has to do it all for me to know He is empowering me to follow Him so that means I am to rely on Him all the time and by resting in His promises to me, I believe Him and that is why He is pleased with me.

I know that personal experiences cannot be applicable but scripture is where we are to find the truth about this issue in.

So I can only hope that one day, when you realize that God has made the New Covenant with you and He will do His work in you so you can follow Him, then maybe you will believe Him too and find yourself able to follow Him by faith in Him and His promises alone rather than by your promises.

I just hope that when you fail to keep your promises, and wonder why God is not helping you, He will remind you of what I had learned and repent by surrendering to believing in Him that the New Covenant is sufficient that He needs no promises from us, but to believe Him.

JohnCate · Apr 1, 2022

I used to not believe in true love because my former boyfriend gave me a love promise, but he ended up cheating on my best friend (not anymore of course), my other ex-boyfriend, proposed to me after two years of dating and bought me a Cartier ring and told me he would only love me for the rest of his life, I believed we would go on forever and have a happy family until that day. My business trip ended early and I didn't inform him because I wanted to surprise him, and when I arrived home I found the "surprise" he gave me - he was in our room with a naked woman. He apologized to me over and over, but I was already heartbroken and I packed my bags that night and went to my sister's house. Two years later I met my current husband, who is not good at expression but books me flowers delivery to my office on Proflower every week, and he bought the ring style I really liked when he proposed, and told me that this jeweler's brand is can only customize an engagement ring for a lifetime of true love and that it represents a lifetime of commitment and responsibility to me, I was very touched, even though I was hestitated, for what I had been through, but I am willing to sink in his infinite love, and we took our wedding vows at the wedding, with God's blessing.

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