WHAT IS LOVE?

DO WE REALLY UNDERSTAND LOVE?

Romance

The American Heritage Dictionary 

A love affair, love, romantic 
involvement, A strong-usually
short-lived attachment or
enthusiasm.......

Romance as we understand it in
this generation falls strongly in
the short-lived category and is
highly unstable and can be volatile!  

There are certain words that are defined as love or mistaken for love in
our society such as romance, infatuation, attraction, friendship, sexual
activity (ie; making love), and, of course, love itself.  There are also the
biblical words for love such as Phileo or Agape from the Greek language.

Do we really understand what love is and whether all these things we
speak of as love are connected and are expressions of love?  Who is 
our final authority on this subject?  For those outside of religious or
Christian influence love can be related to all the above.  For those who
adhere strictly to the Bible for their understanding of love, some of the
associations above create problems because they refute scripture and
are strongly believed to be deceptions or cheap imitations of love!

This page is an attempt to help clarify what love is not and what love is!
Feel free to agree or disagree as you choose!  As a Christian, I fully
believe that God will have the last say on this subject.  I further believe
it is our responsibility to find out for ourselves what God sees as love!
To accept any other understanding leads to folly and disgrace! 

Infatuation

The American Heritage Dictionary

Inspired with foolish and
unreasoning passion or attraction,
short-lived passion.

This used to be thought of as a
teen-age thing, but with the moral
slide of this nation it is common
among adults as well, and like
romance is short-lived and unstable.

Attraction (Physical)

The American Heritage Dictionary

The quality of attracting, allure
or charm.  A feature, factor or
characteristic that attracts.

The favorite phrase among young
people is that someone is
considered "hot."  It then follows
that you "love" how that person looks,  
but mere physical attraction is not
love in the truest sense of the word.   


Friendship

The American Heritage Dictionary

The condition or relation of being
friends, knowing, liking and trusting
a person or persons.

To be a friend to someone is to 
like them, hang out with them, share
 secrets with them, be buddies with
them and even be very fond of them,
but this still doesn't constitute love!  

Love

The American Heritage Dictionary

An intense, affectionate concern
for someone, an intense sexual
desire for another person, etc.

While the first definition can be
correct, the second definition has
no basis in scriptural understanding.
While sex is one expression of our
love; sexual desire itself is not love.

Sexual Activity

The American Heritage Dictiionary

The sexual urge or instinct as it
manifests itself in behavior,
sexual intercourse.

Biblically, within marriage, sex
is for pleasure, procreation and
to honor and glorify God.  Millions
have rejected this, and have chosen
to substitute lust in many forms. 

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT LOVE?

The first and most important consideration of love in the Bible is the
love of God which is expressed in the following scriptures.

God's love expressed in Christ is found in John 3:16 and  1 John 3:16.

God's love is found in his chastisement as found in Hebrews 12:5-11.

God's encouragement for us to love as he does is found in  I John 4:7-11.

Further proofs of God's love can be found in 2 Peter 3:9, Luke 6:35,
Romans 5:8 and many more.  Do some research for yourself.

There are two Greek words for love in the Bible; Phileo and Agape.
Phileo love is friendship and doesn't need to be expounded upon.
Agape love is love that is impossible without God's enabling because
it is beyond our ability to express in our sinful nature apart from the
life changing salvation that God alone provided through Jesus Christ!

Agape is a selfless love that is alien to those outside of Christ.  The
phrase "look out for number one" is prevalent in our world simply
because in the long run when it comes to choosing between us and
someone else we cherish our own life above all others.  The strongest
assertion of this is found in I Corinthians 13:1-13 which describes that
love in no uncertain terms.  The Bible uses the word "charity" in the
King James Version, but a cursory study will show it means love that
is selfless and that can only come from God.  While many have made
great sacrifices for others and for causes of every kind, God speaks of
motivation in these verses, and sheds light on the fact that not all acts
of valor and sacrifice are done for love, and as such have little or no
merit in God's sight.  Agape love not only gives but it asks nothing in 
return and seeks no recognition for itself.  It loves no matter what may
come and even if that love is not returned.  It loves friend and enemy,
family, neighbor, stranger, and is all encompassing in its reach.  If we
are honest we are forced to confess that we know little if anything about
this kind of love.  Even when God changes us from within that love is a
work in progress.  May we seek it with all our hearts that we may honor 
and glorify him through it and lead many to receive his love and mercy! 





     
    Some samples of love and support in our         family by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ!
Do we meet the Biblical Standard of Love?
In every blank below insert your name where it applies to you!

_______suffers long and is kind
_______does not envy
_______doesn't vaunt itself; is not puffed up
_______doesn't behave unseemly
_______does not seek his/her own way
_______is not easily provoked
_______thinks no evil
_______doesn't rejoice in sin but rejoices in the truth
_______bears all things
_______believes all things
_______hopes all things
_______endures all things
_______never fails

We might consider also the following:       1 John 4:10-11  

Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and
with all thy might, and with all thy strength; and thou shalt love thy neighbor
as thyself.  Do we?

Hereby perceive we the Love of God in that he laid down his life for us; so
also ought we to lay down our lives for our brethren.  For even the Son of
man came, not to be ministered to but to minister and to give his life as a
ransom for many.  Are we willing to do the same?

It is easy to say I love you to God and to mankind, but merely mouthing the
words is meaningless unless it is followed by action.  Laying down our own
lives for the sake of others will prove that we mean what we say.  Anything
less is sheer hypocrisy!  I am speaking here of a death to ourselves that is
not always physical but a yielding of ourselves, our preferences, and all that
we cherish for the sake of others and their salvation and to honor the Lord!
This is a small test, but every honest man or woman will admit to failure in
most of these things written above.  That is why we need God to provide a
new heart of love for us to replace the stony heart of self interest within us.

It is this love that treats inconvenience as a pleasure to be borne for the sake of others when we wish to be left alone.  It is this love that gives a needy person our last dollar when our needs are greater than theirs.  It is this love that sits up all night with a sick friend when we would rather sleep.
It is this love that causes mothers and fathers to rise early in the morning to the cry of their babies when they are tired and wish to sleep.  It is this love that is willing to die so that others might live, and it is this love that can be found only in Christ who gave his all that we might learn how to love as he
does.  It is this love that God alone can impart to self-centered humanity!

  Do We really love - or are we fooling ourselves?