Love
What
is love?
In the Bible,"Love" is the ultimate key word with extreme importance of the unconditional love (Agape love) of God and
the unconditional love we must have for God and others.
We are warned not
to find fault with others but to look for the good in others. We are to love
them as they are. Love is not about changing someone to meet our needs.
Love is the strongest emotion.
Conditional Love
Unfortunately, love has many variables in this world. Love means different things to different
people. Some people love others if they are nice to them. Love to many is conditional;
"I love you as long as you are nice to me and you love me."
Many
people use the word love too easily and believe love is basically caring.
True love is not conditional.
If
we truly love someone, then we will want to please that individual and make them
happy, this is not self-serving.
When
you love someone, you aren't selfish. When you truly love someone, you really
care about their well-being.
Love
is a wonderful feeling; it's about caring, empathy, sympathy and concern for
another person’s happiness and well-being.
Unconditional
love is the ultimate love.
No
matter where on earth people live, their nationality or religion there is a
common denominator, Love and marriage.
Who
created love and marriage? There is God’s love, HIS LOVE for us, it is
unconditional love. There is our love for Jesus. The Word teaches us
about love and the importance of Love.
Love is not judging or criticizing others, Only the Lord has the right to judge others.
Love is not judging or criticizing others, Only the Lord has the right to judge others.
The
enemy loves when we judge others.
The
Lord despises us when we judge others.
When
we judge others, we are criticizing God's creation.
We must love others and Jesus unconditionally, it's spelled out in the
Word.
In
one version of the Bible, the word "love" is mentioned 686 times!
Love
is a very important key word in the Bible; we are instructed to love others.
Not just selective love or people that love us or are nice to us, we are
to love others unconditionally, just like the Lord loves us unconditionally.
Love
gives us character, stability and confidence.
Love is a brotherly concern for others; empathy and
sympathy.
True
love is unconditional love; loving someone for the way they are, not wanting to
change or criticize an individual. Love is not getting upset with someone when
they make a mistake, that's judging which has nothing to do with love.
The
Word tells us as Christians, we must love the Lord our God with all our heart,
all our mind and all our soul. We must love our neighbor as ourself. That
means not only all neighbors but all others.
Secular
world
In
our secular world, love is defined as a feeling of strong or
constant affection for another person. Attraction that includes sexual desire. The
strong affection felt by people who have a romantic relationship, a person
you love in a romantic way. Love is the strongest of emotions.
Is
there jealous love?
Is there conditional love? I love you if; you're nice to me, you make me happy, you do things for me, you never complain. Can you imagine if Jesus made these stipulations?
Is there conditional love? I love you if; you're nice to me, you make me happy, you do things for me, you never complain. Can you imagine if Jesus made these stipulations?
__
Dictionary
An
intense feeling of deep affection. Babies fill parents with intense feelings of
love. A person or thing that one loves. "She was the love of his
life".
How
we use the word "love"
Love
is a variety of different feelings, states of emotion and attitudes that ranges from
interpersonal affection (I love
my mother) to pleasure (I loved that meal). It can refer to an emotion of
a strong attraction and personal attachment. It can also be a virtue representing
human kindness, compassion and affection-the unselfish loyal and benevolent
concern for the good of another. It may also describe compassionate and
affectionate actions towards other individuals.
Love
is the Key word in the Bible.
1 John 4;7-14
God
Is Love
7
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves
is born of God and knows God. 8 The one who does not love does not know God,
for God is love. 9 By this the love of God was manifested in us that God has
sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. 10
In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son
to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also
ought to love one another. 12 No one has seen God at any time; if we love one
another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. 13 By this we know
that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. 14 We
have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the
world.
The
Greatest Commandment
Matthew
22;34-40
34
Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35
One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question; 36 Teacher,
which is the greatest commandment in the Law?
37
Jesus replied; Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your
soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39
And the second is like it Love your neighbor as yourself. 40 All the Law and
the Prophets hang on these two commandments.
Romans 4;9-21
Conduct in Love
9 Love must be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil, cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another with mutual love, showing eagerness in honoring one another. 11 Do not lag in zeal, be enthusiastic in spirit, serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, endure in suffering, persist in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints, pursue hospitality. 14 Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty but associate with the lowly. Do not be conceited. 17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil; consider what is good before all people. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all people. 19 Do not avenge yourselves, dear friends, but give place to God’s wrath, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. 20 Rather, if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in doing this you will be heaping burning coals on his head. 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Love of God
Romans
5;5
And
hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our
hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
Romans
8;39
Nor
height, nor depth, nor anything else in creation will be able to separate us
from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
James 1;12
Happy
is the one who endures testing, because when he has proven to be genuine, he
will receive the crown of life that God Promised to those who love him.
1 John 2;15
But
whoever obeys his word, truly in this person the love of God has been
perfected. By this we know that we are in him.
1 John 4;9
By
this the love of God is revealed in us; that God has sent his one and only Son
into the world so that we may live through him.
1 Peter 4;7-19
Service,
Suffering, and Judgment
7
For the culmination of all things is near. So be self-controlled and
sober-minded for the sake of prayer. 8 Above all keep your love for one another
fervent, because love covers a multitude of sins. 9 Show hospitality to one
another without complaining. 10 Just as each one has received a gift, use it to
serve one another as good stewards of the varied grace of God. 11 Whoever
speaks, let it be with God’s words. Whoever serves, do so with the strength
that God supplies, so that in everything God will be glorified through Jesus
Christ. To him belong the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen. 12 Dear
friends, do not be astonished that a trial by fire is occurring among you, as
though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice in the degree
that you have shared in the sufferings of Christ, so that when his glory is
revealed you may also rejoice and be glad. 14 If you are insulted for the name
of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory, who is the Spirit of
God, rests on you. 15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer or thief or
criminal or as a troublemaker. 16 But if you suffer as a Christian, do not be
ashamed, but glorify God that you bear such a name. 17 For it is time for
judgment to begin, starting with the house of God. And if it starts with us,
what will be the fate of those who are disobedient to the gospel of God? 18 And
if the righteous are barely saved, what will become of the ungodly and sinners?
19 So then let those who suffer according to the will of God entrust their
souls to a faithful Creator as they do good.
1 Corinthians 13;1-13
The Way of Love
1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but I do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so that I can remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away everything I own, and if I give over my body in order to boast, but do not have love, I receive no benefit.
4 Love is patient, love is kind, it is not envious. Love does not brag, it is not puffed up. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-serving, it is not easily angered or resentful. 6 It is not glad about injustice, but rejoices in the truth. 7 It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never ends. But if there are prophecies, they will be set aside; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be set aside. 9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part, 10 but when what is perfect comes, the partial will be set aside. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. But when I became an adult, I set aside childish ways. 12 For now we see in a mirror indirectly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, just as I have been fully known. 13 And now these three remain; faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.
Deuteronomy 10;12-20
An Exhortation to Love Both God and People
12 Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you except to revere him, to obey all his commandments, to love him, to serve him with all your mind and being, 13 and to keep the Lord’s commandments and statutes that I am giving you today for your own good? 14 The heavens indeed the highest heavens belong to the Lord your God, as does the earth and everything in it. 15 However, only to your ancestors did he show his loving favor, and he chose you, their descendants, from all peoples as are apparent today. 16 Therefore, cleanse your heart and stop being so stubborn! 17 For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, mighty, and awesome God who is unbiased and takes no bribe, 18 who justly treats the orphan and widow, and who loves resident foreigners, giving them food and clothing. 19 So you must love the resident foreigner because you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. 20 Revere the Lord your God, serve him, be loyal to him and take oaths only in his name.
Deuteronomy 11;1
The Way of Love
1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but I do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so that I can remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away everything I own, and if I give over my body in order to boast, but do not have love, I receive no benefit.
4 Love is patient, love is kind, it is not envious. Love does not brag, it is not puffed up. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-serving, it is not easily angered or resentful. 6 It is not glad about injustice, but rejoices in the truth. 7 It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never ends. But if there are prophecies, they will be set aside; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be set aside. 9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part, 10 but when what is perfect comes, the partial will be set aside. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. But when I became an adult, I set aside childish ways. 12 For now we see in a mirror indirectly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, just as I have been fully known. 13 And now these three remain; faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.
Deuteronomy 10;12-20
An Exhortation to Love Both God and People
12 Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you except to revere him, to obey all his commandments, to love him, to serve him with all your mind and being, 13 and to keep the Lord’s commandments and statutes that I am giving you today for your own good? 14 The heavens indeed the highest heavens belong to the Lord your God, as does the earth and everything in it. 15 However, only to your ancestors did he show his loving favor, and he chose you, their descendants, from all peoples as are apparent today. 16 Therefore, cleanse your heart and stop being so stubborn! 17 For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, mighty, and awesome God who is unbiased and takes no bribe, 18 who justly treats the orphan and widow, and who loves resident foreigners, giving them food and clothing. 19 So you must love the resident foreigner because you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. 20 Revere the Lord your God, serve him, be loyal to him and take oaths only in his name.
Deuteronomy 11;1
"You shall love the Lord your God and always keep his charge, His statues, His ordinances, and His commandments"
Deuteronomy
30;16
What I am commanding you today is to
love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, and to obey his commandments, his
statutes, and his ordinances. Then you will live and become numerous and the
Lord your God will bless you in the land which you are about to possess.
Deuteronomy 30;6
The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live.
Deuteronomy
30;20
listen to his voice, and hold fast to
him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he
swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Joshua 22;5
But be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the Lord gave you; to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to keep his commands, to hold fast to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.
1 Kings 10;9
Praise be to the Lord your God, who has delighted in you and placed you on the throne of Israel. Because of the Lord’s eternal love for Israel, he has made you king to maintain justice and righteousness.
1 Chronicles 16;34
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.
Genesis
29;18
Since Jacob had fallen in love with Rachel, he said, I’ll serve you seven years in exchange for your younger daughter Rachel.
Genesis 29;20
So Jacob worked for seven years to acquire Rachel. But they seemed like only a few days to him because his love for her was so great.
Genesis 34;3
Then he became very attached to Dinah, Jacob’s daughter. He fell in love with the young woman and spoke romantically to her.
Genesis 37;4
When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them; they hated Joseph and were not able to speak to him kindly.
Since Jacob had fallen in love with Rachel, he said, I’ll serve you seven years in exchange for your younger daughter Rachel.
Genesis 29;20
So Jacob worked for seven years to acquire Rachel. But they seemed like only a few days to him because his love for her was so great.
Genesis 34;3
Then he became very attached to Dinah, Jacob’s daughter. He fell in love with the young woman and spoke romantically to her.
Genesis 37;4
When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them; they hated Joseph and were not able to speak to him kindly.
Exodus 15;13
By your loyal love you will lead the people whom you have redeemed; you will guide them by your strength to your holy dwelling place.
Exodus
20;6
and showing covenant faithfulness to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
Exodus 34;6
The Lord passed by before him and proclaimed; The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, and abounding in loyal love and faithfulness.
and showing covenant faithfulness to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
Exodus 34;6
The Lord passed by before him and proclaimed; The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, and abounding in loyal love and faithfulness.
Leviticus 19;18
You must not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the children of your people, but you must love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.
Leviticus 19;34
The foreigner who resides with you must be to you like a native citizen among you; so you must love him as yourself, because you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.
Numbers 14;18
‘The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in loyal love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children until the third and fourth generations.
Deuteronomy 6;5
You must LOVE the Lord your God with your whole mind, your whole being, and all your strength.
Deuteronomy 7;9
So realize that the Lord your God is the true God, the faithful God who keeps covenant faithfully with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations.
Deuteronomy 13;3
You must not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the children of your people, but you must love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.
Leviticus 19;34
The foreigner who resides with you must be to you like a native citizen among you; so you must love him as yourself, because you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.
Numbers 14;18
‘The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in loyal love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children until the third and fourth generations.
Deuteronomy 6;5
You must LOVE the Lord your God with your whole mind, your whole being, and all your strength.
Deuteronomy 7;9
So realize that the Lord your God is the true God, the faithful God who keeps covenant faithfully with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations.
Deuteronomy 13;3
3
You must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer, for the Lord your
God will be testing you to see if you love him with all your mind and being.
Deuteronomy 30;6
Deuteronomy 30;6
The
Lord your God will also cleanse your heart and the hearts of your descendants
so that you may love him with all your mind and being and so that you may live.
Deuteronomy 30;16
What I am commanding you today is to love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, and to obey his commandments, his statutes, and his ordinances. Then you will live and become numerous and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you are about to possess.
Deuteronomy 30;20
I also call on you to love the Lord your God, to obey him and be loyal to him, for he gives you life and enables you to live continually in the land the Lord promised to give to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Joshua 22;5
But carefully obey the commands and
instructions Moses the Lord’s servant gave you. Love the Lord your God, follow
all his instructions, obey his commands, be loyal to him, and serve him with
all your heart and being!
Joshua 23;11
Watch yourselves carefully! Love the Lord your God!
Psalm 11;5
The Lord examines the righteous, but the wicked, those who love violence, he hates with a passion.
Psalm 23;6
Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Psalm 33;5
The Lord loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love.
Psalm 31;23
Love the Lord, all you faithful followers of his! The Lord protects those who have integrity, but he pays back in full the one who acts arrogantly.
Psalm 33;18
But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love.
Psalm 37;28
For the Lord loves the just and will not forsake his faithful ones. Wrongdoers will be completely destroyed; the offspring of the wicked will perish.
Psalm 34;12
Do you want to really live? Would you love to live a long, happy life?
Psalm 36;7
How precious is your loyal love, O God! The human race finds shelter under your wings.
Psalm 40;10
I have not failed to tell about your justice; I spoke about your reliability and deliverance; I have not neglected to tell the great assembly about your loyal love and faithfulness.
Joshua 23;11
Watch yourselves carefully! Love the Lord your God!
Psalm 11;5
The Lord examines the righteous, but the wicked, those who love violence, he hates with a passion.
Psalm 23;6
Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Psalm 33;5
The Lord loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love.
Psalm 31;23
Love the Lord, all you faithful followers of his! The Lord protects those who have integrity, but he pays back in full the one who acts arrogantly.
Psalm 33;18
But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love.
Psalm 37;28
For the Lord loves the just and will not forsake his faithful ones. Wrongdoers will be completely destroyed; the offspring of the wicked will perish.
Psalm 34;12
Do you want to really live? Would you love to live a long, happy life?
Psalm 36;7
How precious is your loyal love, O God! The human race finds shelter under your wings.
Psalm 40;10
I have not failed to tell about your justice; I spoke about your reliability and deliverance; I have not neglected to tell the great assembly about your loyal love and faithfulness.
Psalm
40;11
O Lord, you do not withhold your compassion from me. May your loyal love and faithfulness continually protect me!
Psalm 42;8
By day the Lord decrees his loyal love, and by night he gives me a song, a prayer to the living God.
Psalm 45;7
O Lord, you do not withhold your compassion from me. May your loyal love and faithfulness continually protect me!
Psalm 42;8
By day the Lord decrees his loyal love, and by night he gives me a song, a prayer to the living God.
Psalm 45;7
You
love justice and hate evil. For this reason God, your God has anointed you with
the oil of joy, elevating you above your companions.
Psalm 59;17
You are my source of strength! I will sing praises to you! For God is my refuge, the God who loves me.
Psalm 70;4
May all those who seek you be happy and rejoice in you! May those who love to experience your deliverance say continually, May God be praised!
Psalm 91;14
Because he loves me, says the Lord, I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
Psalm 97;10
Let those who love the Lord hate evil, for he guards the lives of his faithful ones and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
Psalm 100;5
For the Lord is good. His loyal love endures, and he is faithful through all generations.
Psalm 103;17
But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children.
Psalm 103;17
But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children.
Psalm 59;17
You are my source of strength! I will sing praises to you! For God is my refuge, the God who loves me.
Psalm 70;4
May all those who seek you be happy and rejoice in you! May those who love to experience your deliverance say continually, May God be praised!
Psalm 91;14
Because he loves me, says the Lord, I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
Psalm 97;10
Let those who love the Lord hate evil, for he guards the lives of his faithful ones and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
Psalm 100;5
For the Lord is good. His loyal love endures, and he is faithful through all generations.
Psalm 103;17
But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children.
Psalm 103;17
But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children.
Timothy Skon, Chaplain, Prayer Minister
dedicated to serving others in Jesus name
8/5/15