What is Love?

[Rhoni]

What is Love?

Love is more than emotions, and it is much more than a good feeling. But our society has taken what God has said about love, sex and intimacy and changed it into simply emotions and feelings. God describes love in great detail in the Bible, especially in the Book of First Corinthians, chapter 13. So that you catch the full weight of God's definition of love, let me present verses four through seven (1 Corinthians 13:4-7) to you this way. How much would it meet your needs if a person loved you as God says we should be loved:

• if this person responded to you with patience, kindness, and was not envious of you?
• if this person was not boastful or prideful?
• how about if this person wasn't rude toward you or self-seeking or easily angered?
• what if this person didn't keep a record of your wrongs?
• how about if they refused to be deceitful, but always were truthful with you?
• what if this person protected you, trusted you, always hoped for your good, and persevered through conflicts with you?

This is how God defines the love He wants us to experience in relationships. You'll notice that this kind of love is "other-person" focused. It is giving, rather than self-seeking. And there's the problem. Who can live up to this?
For us to experience this kind of love in relationships we need to first experience God's love for us. You can't consistently demonstrate this kind of love toward someone if you've never experienced being loved in this way. God, who knows you, who knows everything about you, loves you perfectly.
God tells us through the ancient prophet, Jeremiah, "I have loved you with an everlasting love; and I have drawn you unto Myself" (Jeremiah 31:3). So God's love for you is never going to change.
God loved us so much that He allowed for Jesus Christ to be crucified (an ancient form of execution) for our sins so that we might be made clean. We read in the Bible, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). When we turn to God and accept His forgiveness, then we begin to experience His love.
God tells us, "If we confess our sin He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). Not only does God forgive our sins, but He forgets them and cleanses us.
God continues to love us no matter what. Often, relationships end when something in them is altered, such as a damaging accident or the loss of financial position. But God's love is not based on our physical appearance or who or what we are.
As you can see, God's view of love is totally different from what society tells us love is. Can you imagine a relationship with this kind of love? God simply tells us that His forgiveness and love is ours for the asking. It is His gift to us. But if we refuse the gift, we are the ones who cut ourselves off from finding true fulfillment, true intimacy and true purpose in life.

[chosenbyone]

Originally Posted by Rhoni

What is Love?

Love is more than emotions, and it is much more than a good feeling. But our society has taken what God has said about love, sex and intimacy and changed it into simply emotions and feelings. God describes love in great detail in the Bible, especially in the Book of First Corinthians, chapter 13. So that you catch the full weight of God's definition of love, let me present verses four through seven (1 Corinthians 13:4-7) to you this way. How much would it meet your needs if a person loved you as God says we should be loved:

• if this person responded to you with patience, kindness, and was not envious of you?
• if this person was not boastful or prideful?
• how about if this person wasn't rude toward you or self-seeking or easily angered?
• what if this person didn't keep a record of your wrongs?
• how about if they refused to be deceitful, but always were truthful with you?
• what if this person protected you, trusted you, always hoped for your good, and persevered through conflicts with you?

This is how God defines the love He wants us to experience in relationships. You'll notice that this kind of love is "other-person" focused. It is giving, rather than self-seeking. And there's the problem. Who can live up to this?
For us to experience this kind of love in relationships we need to first experience God's love for us. You can't consistently demonstrate this kind of love toward someone if you've never experienced being loved in this way. God, who knows you, who knows everything about you, loves you perfectly.
God tells us through the ancient prophet, Jeremiah, "I have loved you with an everlasting love; and I have drawn you unto Myself" (Jeremiah 31:3). So God's love for you is never going to change.
God loved us so much that He allowed for Jesus Christ to be crucified (an ancient form of execution) for our sins so that we might be made clean. We read in the Bible, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). When we turn to God and accept His forgiveness, then we begin to experience His love.
God tells us, "If we confess our sin He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). Not only does God forgive our sins, but He forgets them and cleanses us.
God continues to love us no matter what. Often, relationships end when something in them is altered, such as a damaging accident or the loss of financial position. But God's love is not based on our physical appearance or who or what we are.
As you can see, God's view of love is totally different from what society tells us love is. Can you imagine a relationship with this kind of love? God simply tells us that His forgiveness and love is ours for the asking. It is His gift to us. But if we refuse the gift, we are the ones who cut ourselves off from finding true fulfillment, true intimacy and true purpose in life.

It was his love that sustained me and kept me when there was no one else. For me, that love was all I needed.

I really enjoyed the article above, Rhoni. It was good to reflect on God's love this evening.

He who does not love has not become acquainted with God [does not and never did know Him], for God is love. 1 John 4: 8

[Barb]

Here are the verses you mentioned from the Amplified Version...I love this...


1 Cor 13:4-7

4 Love endures long and is patient and kind; love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily.

5 It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God's love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong].

6 It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail.

7 Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening].
AMP

[Rico]

I once tried doing a study on love. I looked the word up in my Strong's and was shocked at how many scriptures talked about love. When I first saw how many there were, my first thought was, "Wow. Talk about a mountain of information." My next thought was that not all mountains are there to get in our way. Some of them God puts there because He's trying to teach us something. Never did get that study done.

[Rhoni]

Originally Posted by Rico

I once tried doing a study on love. I looked the word up in my Strong's and was shocked at how many scriptures talked about love. When I first saw how many there were, my first thought was, "Wow. Talk about a mountain of information." My next thought was that not all mountains are there to get in our way. Some of them God puts there because He's trying to teach us something. Never did get that study done.

EXACTLY Rico! Great insight!

[Rhoni]

Originally Posted by Barb

Here are the verses you mentioned from the Amplified Version...I love this...


1 Cor 13:4-7

4 Love endures long and is patient and kind; love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily.

5 It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God's love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong].

6 It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail.

7 Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening].
AMP

Helps one discern what is true love and what isn't...makes you think doesn't it?

Blessings, Rhoni

[Margies3]

I am also convinced of a couple things:

1) Like you've said, we cannot love another person with this kind of love until we have experienced this kind of love from God ourselves.

2) Once we've experienced that kind of love, our love interests will lie much more in loving the other person than they will in being loved by someone. We will get our eyes off of our own selves and more onto the ones we love.

3) At the same time - and this is my biggest point - I have to believe that once we've experienced this kind of love from God, even tho our own needs will no longer be the priority, we will also not ever be able to allow ourselves to settle for less in loving relationships in our lives. In other words, we won't allow others to abuse us and then say they love us, because now we know what real love actually is.

[jaxfam6]

My favorite about love is that God is Love. Next is that Love Covers...

So to me that must mean that God covers me.

I know it is shortened and simplistic but it works