Let's Talk About Love!

[marks]

One of the reasons I like reading the KJV is . . . "Charity."

2 Peter 1
2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,
3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

"Charity" carries more meaning for me than "love". Charity speaks of the intentional outgoing nature of love. We chose to give to others.

Charity is the pinnacle. Nothing is added to Charity.

Can you have love without brotherly affections? Without godliness (well-worshipping)? Without knowledge, and self-control?

If these grow in you, you will always be fruitful.

What is love? How do we love? What does loving look like? How do we grow in love? What is not love?

Let's talk about love!

Much love!

@Seasoned by Grace @stunnedbygrace @Paul Christensen @Enow @mjrhealth @mailmandan @Dcopymope @Nancy @Hisman @Waiting on him

 

[Enow]

Charity aka Christ's love is something I rely on Him to work in me and provide as it is a fruit of the Spirit.

John 6:28 Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? 29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

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.

Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. 24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

 

[Josho]

2 Peter 1:2

A blessing regularly spoken at the Anglican church I usually go to.

 

[Philip James]

Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, (love) is not pompous, it is not inflated,

it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury,

it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth.

It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Peace be with you!

 

[Willie T]

One man, Bob Goff, kind of summed it up in the title of a book he wrote.... "Love DOES".

 

[marks]

One man, Bob Goff, kind of summed it up in the title of a book he wrote.... "Love DOES".

I see love as action that results from choice.

Much love!

 

[marks]

For God so loved the world . . .
Thou shalt love the LORD thy God . . .
Love one another as I have loved you . . .
God is love . . .

Be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect. In context, this does not mean that our moral excellence must match God's. That becomes bondage to law a we self-regulate according to our concept of God's righteous requirement. All lawkeeping in order to gain or maintain our acceptance by God only brings us confidence before God in proportion to our own belief in our own sinlessness.

Be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect, giving rain and sunshine to all alike, giving the goodness of life and providence to everyone. So in the same way God's desire for us, Jesus' command to us, and the result of His work in us, is to be people who love everyone.

To love everyone no matter who they are, to give them the best of ourselves in all circumstances. OK, I've already left myself in the dust! Let not many be teachers!

God is love, and we are sharers in His nature. Two things Jesus commands us, trust Him, and love others. God teaches us that in loving others, and loving God, all righteousness is fulfilled in us.

God created us to love, and be loved. To enter into a life defined by loving others, think the fish dropped into water. This is our new nature. Life otherwise is not us. Not the new us.

Love, Joy, Peace, and more . . . we enter the abundant life by giving ourselves in love, and in trusting Jesus as He loves through us.

And we enter the abundant life by accepting God's complete and eternal love for us, His children.

Much love!

 

[marks]

Charity aka Christ's love is something I rely on Him to work in me and provide as it is a fruit of the Spirit.

John 6:28 Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? 29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

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.

Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. 24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

Hi Enow,

Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, I love it! The peaceable fruits of righteousness, love in us is to the glory of God.

Galatians 5:25, If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit, I like how this brings out that we have a certain life, so that is to be our walk.

In terms of faith and love, we have new lives of faith and love, so let us believe, and love! Not to mention the rest!

I see these fruit as all one thing, that thing being present while we keep our minds set on Him. When we are presently enjoying our relationship with our Creator, we have love, we have peace, we have patience and self-control, and the rest. That these describe the "now state" of those who's minds are anchored in God, the anchor of our unity with Jesus though He has passed through the veil.

When we live in that unity with Jesus, with our Father, these describe how we live, how we are.

Much love!

 

[Harvest 1874]

The Importance of Love

Someone asked Jesus, “Master, which is the great commandment in the law?”

There were 3,600 commandments at that time in the Jewish law and the question they put to Jesus was: “which one is the greatest?” Jesus said unto them: “thou shalt LOVE ...”

Doesn't this show that love is the greatest thing in the world?

“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and greatest commandment!” Then he quoted the one second in importance which was love again: “And the second is like unto it: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”-- Matt 22:36-39

To the Jews, it was the law, a commandment which meant life to them, if kept perfectly, which it was impossible for them to do. But to us, love is the fruit of the Spirit of God, an evidence that we are his children and heirs, members of his household; as it is written in 1 John 4:16: “God is love; and he that dwells in love, dwells in God, and God in him.”

Do you get the full implication of this scripture?

If our consecrated lives are motivated and dominated by love, and God is love--we are said to dwell in God! This is confirmed by Paul in Acts 17:28, “In Him we live, and move, and have our being.” But the scripture goes further than that. It says that if we dwell in love, God dwells in us!

How can such a thing be? Can the Almighty God dwell in our poor human bodies?

Of course not,

How then does God dwell in us?

The answer is in 1 Cor 3:16, “Know ye not, that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” It is by his Spirit that God dwells in us, by his holy influence.

But we must make room for Him to come in by dwelling in love, by loving Him supremely--our neighbors as ourselves, and our brethren BETTER than ourselves--by enlarging our hearts to fully receive his Spirit of love. Then he will indeed dwell in us.

Love is the principal attribute of God, and it has tremendous power. Paul said, in 2 Tim 1:7, “For God hath not given us the Spirit of fear, but of power and of love, and of a sound mind.” Notice that power and love are associated. Love has power. It has the power of life and death! Let me illustrate.

Many years ago, in New York's Bellevue Hospital, the staff of the children’s ward was faced with a tragic fact. They were losing 32% of the children under a year old. That's almost one third. The children were dying mostly through minor ailments. The doctors were dumbfounded. There was no apparent reason for it. The infants were receiving the finest medical care known to science. They had clean, germ-free surroundings. Their diets were carefully formulated, of the best ingredients. Temperatures were properly maintained. Beds were comfortable, everything seemed ideal. Yet the babies were dying. Finally, one of the doctors suggested that the only thing the hospital was not supplying was love.

It was a revolutionary idea, but they were desperate. So they sent out a call for love-volunteers--women to come and love babies, so many hours a day. Hundreds of women responded, because they had a need, too--a need for someone to love. They held the babies in their arms; fed them; talked to them; sang them little lullabies; showed them affection--gave them love. The death rate began to plunge immediately. In four months, it was down to almost zero!

This incident demonstrates the power of even the natural love with which God endowed his human creatures--a tremendous power—the power of life and death! How much more power is exerted by the higher form of love, with which God's Spirit has endowed his New Creatures in Christ! The peculiar thing about love is that it is developed BY GIVING. A wise man has said, “You are born of the qualities you habitually give out. If you give out hate, you become hateful. If you give out criticism, you become critical. If you give out love, you become lovely.”

So just as those women of Bellevue who gave love to the babies, were themselves filled and rewarded by love, we will develop love in ourselves BY GIVING IT. We need the spiritual love that each member of the household of God can supply. We must have it lest we die as New Creatures just as those Bellevue babies died.

So let us more and more make room in our hearts, to be filled with the Spirit of love, which is the essence of God's character. It has immense power. It will transform us; and it is for us to claim! As we are admonished in 1 Pet 1:22, “Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit, unto unfeigned love of the brethren; see that ye love one another, with a pure heart, fervently.”

The love mentioned by the apostle is not maudlin sentimentality or romantic attachment; these are things of the natural man. I am not saying these are wrong or sinful, only that they are not what the apostle refers to. The love referred to is immeasurably deeper, and wider and grander. This higher form of love is the most important ingredient of Christian character--the most important fruit of the Spirit.

Jesus made it a condition and proof of discipleship, when he said in John 13:34, 35, “A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love for one another.” The apostle John emphasizes how essential love for the brethren is when he says: “We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loves not his brother, abides in death.” (1 John 3:14)

Have we “passed from death unto life”? Are we alive as new creatures? Or are we still dead with the world? Have we passed over the line--from death to life?

THIS is the rule! This is the test--love for the brethren!

 

[Enow]

Hi Enow,

Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, I love it! The peaceable fruits of righteousness, love in us is to the glory of God.

Galatians 5:25, If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit, I like how this brings out that we have a certain life, so that is to be our walk.

In terms of faith and love, we have new lives of faith and love, so let us believe, and love! Not to mention the rest!

I see these fruit as all one thing, that thing being present while we keep our minds set on Him. When we are presently enjoying our relationship with our Creator, we have love, we have peace, we have patience and self-control, and the rest. That these describe the "now state" of those who's minds are anchored in God, the anchor of our unity with Jesus though He has passed through the veil.

When we live in that unity with Jesus, with our Father, these describe how we live, how we are.

Much love!

Sometimes, we may go through trials where we suffer because we cease from sin by His help. Abiding in Him does not always comes stress free, but He is in us to walk us through this valley of death to even help us to fear no evil.

 

[marks]

Sometimes, we may go through trials where we suffer because we cease from sin by His help. Abiding in Him does not always comes stress free, but He is in us to walk us through this valley of death to even help us to fear no evil.

Indeed!

Well, stress free, I think that's a choice.

Not to make light of our struggle! In love we endure. But what we endure may be difficult, painful, even heartbreaking. It IS a valley of the shadow of death.

For me it's about the wind and the waves, if I can keep being with Jesus the center of my life, I'm OK. But there are a lot of things flapping their arms around me, trying to get my gaze onto them.

Much love!

 

[mjrhealth]

God loves me, an imperfrct human being wit many faults, His love is unconditional, and wil never changes, that is teh greatest love of all, even giving us free will knowing al the problems it would cause Him, than sending His son to die for us willingly, knowing all te hpain he would suffer, even being rejecetd by those He came for, taht is true love.

 

[Base12]

Charity is the pinnacle.

There is another Word that trumps Charity.

I am going to wait to see if anyone knows what it is.

 

[Brakelite]

I think the greatest manifestation of love is self sacrifice. Daniel, despite having no fault recorded against his name, identified himself a sinner along with the nation of Israel in his prayer of repentance in Daniel 9:4-14.
Such humility was even further exemplified by Jesus in taking upon Himself human flesh and permitting the guilt and burden of sin rest upon Him.
This self sacrifice love was also demonstrated by Moses when God threatened to destroy Israel and start again with Moses... Moses would have none of that despite the potential glory that would come with being the father of a new nation. Blot my name from your book of you must, but please forgive your people... Your name, not mine, is at stake. Wow. That's love.
And guess what. That's the love we are expected to manifest and demonstrate in our own lives.
KJV Ephesians 5
25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
KJV Matthew 10
39 He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.

 

[Base12]

I think the greatest manifestation of love is self sacrifice.

There's that word I was looking for...

Romans 12:1
"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service"

Good job Brakelite.

 

[Enow]

To the Jews, it was the law, a commandment which meant life to them, if kept perfectly, which it was impossible for them to do. But to us, love is the fruit of the Spirit of God, an evidence that we are his children and heirs, members of his household; as it is written in 1 John 4:16: “God is love; and he that dwells in love, dwells in God, and God in him.”

Do you get the full implication of this scripture?

If our consecrated lives are motivated and dominated by love, and God is love--we are said to dwell in God! This is confirmed by Paul in Acts 17:28, “In Him we live, and move, and have our being.” But the scripture goes further than that. It says that if we dwell in love, God dwells in us!

Even when we go astray or when we are foolish to sow to the works of the flesh, He is still in us. It is a matter of abiding in Him by not walking in darkness that is the truth of the matter so that our joy may be full.

Ephesians 4:30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

1 John 1:3 That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ; 4 And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full. 5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

How can such a thing be? Can the Almighty God dwell in our poor human bodies?

Of course not,

How then does God dwell in us?

The answer is in 1 Cor 3:16, “Know ye not, that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” It is by his Spirit that God dwells in us, by his holy influence.

That first part of your verse 1 Corinthians 3:16 shows otherwise on how God dwells in us because by believing in Jesus Christ is how we receive the remission of sins, we become a new creature; hence that body of the temple of the Holy Spirit for God to dwell in us.

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

Galatians 6:15 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.

Matthew 9:17 Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved.

That is why the Holy Spirit will never leave us because we are a new creature hence new wine bottles, able to hold the wine hence the Holy Spirit, thus sealed, and preserved and thus saved forever as His.

But more than that, His seal of adoption, the Holy Spirit is on our spirits as well so that when we die, we are with the Lord.

2 Corinthians 5:7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.9 Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.11 Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.

So the question is how will we be received by Him in which resurrection; as vessels unto honor in the firstfruits of the resurrection or as vessels unto dishonor after the great tribulation? Either way, that is Him loving us no matter what because we are His; as bought with a price and sealed as His.

 

[marks]

I think the greatest manifestation of love is self sacrifice.

Paul in 1 Corinthians 9 talks about the dispensation of the gospel being given him, not by his choice, but put on him by God, to share the Gospel. And that he didn't have reward from that work, since it was what God gave him to do.

So he added to it his contribution, that he would labor and toil, to the point of exhaustion, and mental anguish, to bring the gospel without cost, or any other baggage, just the pure and free gift from God.

I'm very challenged in this!

It's like in Hebrews where it says you haven't resisted sin to the point of blood, in 1 Thessalonians 2 how he labored and toiled out of his love for them. That kind of labor and toil!

Moses too! To truly prefer to be condemned away from God that another could know him. That is amazing love, God's love perfected in us. Love that knows no fear, of loss, of suffering, of toil and labor, born from our sacrifice for others.

And guess what. That's the love we are expected to manifest and demonstrate in our own lives.
KJV Ephesians 5
25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
KJV Matthew 10
39 He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.

We can know, I think, how close to His life we are by how we love.

Much love!

 

[marks]

There is another Word that trumps Charity.

I am going to wait to see if anyone knows what it is.

To live in love is living the life of Jesus. Was it what, or Who?

Much love!

 

[DoveSpirit05]

But do you love God??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Jesus said in john 14:15 "If you love me keep my commandments"

 

[Willie T]

There is another Word that trumps Charity.

I am going to wait to see if anyone knows what it is.

My vote would go to "Mercy."