What is Love?

"Love covers a multitude of sins", 1 Peter 4:8. What is love? How do you feel love? Is it a feeling? Is it an action? How do you know if someone loves you or if you love yourself, or someone else?  Today, let's discuss an "agape" kind of love. The word agape originates from the Greek, meaning the highest form of love that is from God extended to humans. Love is God.

Recently, I did a poll and gather people's notions of what love is to them. Some people said it was understanding, some said it was a form of action, some said that love is a learned behavior and others said that love is biologically in our nature.

John 3:16 states, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son so that whosoever believeth unto him shall be saved. " Love is a sacrificial action that is done to prove to someone that there is loyalty in this union.

For instance, I love my family. I am very family-oriented and there is nothing in my power that I would not do for them. But the question is, would I die for them? Only actually being in that situation would I truly know. It sounds good saying "Yes! I would die for them!" But how do  I really know that?

Abraham was told to use his beloved son Isacc as a sacrifice. Now being a parent giving your child up to die has to be the hardest decision ever. No one wants to see what they have created to die and suffer.  Just like God doesn't want to see us die and suffer eternally. However, it was the obedience of the act that pleased God, not the actual act of killing his son. God wants to know that this relationship that you say you love so dear, this job, this car, whatever you value is not more significant than him. God is Jehovah, meaning no one and nothing is more important than him. No one can be God because he is the beginning and the end. God's love for humanity is beyond our comprehension, so he did it at our level. By bringing himself in the flesh(Jesus) so that he can walk, talk, sleep, eat, etc, just as we do; he wanted to be relatable.

 We choose friendships and connections based on likeability and similarities.  God was displaying how he understands what it feels like to be human. That he is more than just this spirit in the sky that answers whenever we call him. He wants a relationship, so he sent Jesus his son to display that love and to give us an example of how we should show love to others.

Let's look at a few ways God showed love.  Perceive love as a pyramid: at the top is sacrifice while the middle and bottom are the attributes that were exemplified... Such as patience, kindness, and compassion. Everything that follows underneath of sacrifice is patience, kindness, not envious, doesn't boast, it is not proud. it doesn't dishonor, others, self-seeking, it isn't easily angered, Doesn't hold grudges, love doesn't delight in evil, always trusts, always hopes, always preserves.  1 Corinthians 13:4-8). Love requires putting someone else's needs above your own. If you're a parent, there are times where you will not eat or buy that extra pair of shoes to make sure your child sustains. If you love music, there's nothing that will stand in your way of pursuing it.  Love is a powerful force that will conquer all evil.  If someone is doing you or themselves wrong, love them; as long as breath is still in them there is time for a change. 

If someone doesn't want to be with you even though you gave it your all, love them and love yourself more. If something you do doesn't bring you peace, then you don't need to be doing it because that means God is not in it. Whether it's a business deal, deciding what school to go to, a relationship to enter or exit- whatever it may be, you have to choose wisely because God doesn't want to see you in predicaments that are going to cause you pain that he did not intend. Everything that may seem good, doesn't always come from God. 

If you love something, set it free and if it comes back to you then it means it's yours. God gave us this choice with salvation; he gave us the gift to choose eternal life or not. He loves us so much that he doesn't want to impose values on us but instead gives us the right of free-will. But when we come to the knowledge of who he is, and what he did, we can learn to love God and build a real relationship with him. When you give your life to Christ, it means sacrificing your life of sin to enjoy the life of eternal peace with God.

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