love?

I would answer: through suffering.

As we are blind, arrogant, ignorant, and rebellious, God will often let us make our own mistakes - with the hope that we will one day in our lowest point, seek Him; from which He can then show us His incredible love. It is no wonder Jesus choose to hang out with the sinners of his day rather than the self-righteous leaders of the temple.

We learn how to act in love by discovering the Character of God. You discover his character by getting to know him. You get to know him by making a decision in your heart to seek Him. God always provides the answers. That is the promise of the bible to true seekers.

Is this open discussion?

You can pull up 1,000 definitions of love but before you discuss or debate love and intellect together you must define love in a more precise manner or there will be the never ending "But"!

"Maybe this should be a new thread...???"

hehe, yup. now you're getting the picture.

Hi Othniel,
love is a very personal emotion, I do not believe it can actually be defined since what is love to you will not be love to me and so on.

Love is defined in the Bible.

Love is patient
Love is Kind
Love is not envious
Love does not boast
Love is not proud
Love isn’t rude
Love is not self-seeking.
Love is not easily angered
Love keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil
Love rejoices with the truth
Love always protects
Love always trusts
Love always hopes
Love always perseveres
Love never fails

Yeah, that's real good stuff

Even the most wicked *do* love something. I believe love is first demonstrated by parents for their children, which defines it for them. Even if they were an orphan, the orphanage keepers loved them, or if they grew up on the street, a kind stranger must have shown them some sort of love in one way or another. I personally believe it is impossible to both not have love at one point in your life, or never learn what love is. Even the most wicked care for something, whether it be money. However.. whether they experience TRUE love, like Christ showed for us, is another matter.

Originally posted by Othniel
A recent thread asked about relationship with God, and it was mentioned that love for God causes us to love others.

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We love because He first loved us. It is like, you cannot give if you do not first receive. As mentioned already, we first learn love from our parents. So we give love because we already have love inside us to give out.

In the context of love for God causing to love others, it is because we love God that we want to imitate Him. However, sometimes it is hard to love a certain group/type of people because we have falleness (imperfection) in us. Here is where we can love others because we remember, 'I want to love them because God loves them too. I love God so I want to love the things and people He loves. What's important to God is also important to me.'

If, as fallen creatures, we "desire only evil" and "do not understand" (as the Bible is rather implicit about), how do we learn what love really is? Who teaches us how to love?

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The book of John says God is love. God is a God of relationship. Because we were made in His image, we too were built for relationship. The desire to love (bond and attach with others) is built into us. Eventhough we have wicked thoughts, we are still able to have the purer and more positive thoughts. So we love because we were made in God's image. But because we live under falleness, we don't love perfectly.


Hope this has been helpful!

Originally posted by Othniel
Really?

If a stalker-rapest "loves" his victim, is it really love...or is it self-love twisting sin so as to deceive?

Peace
<><

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Othniel I think first you have to understand what love is. To me love is care put into action. If you love, you care. You don't just feel it, you act it out.

So there are many different kinds of love. Because you can care for different things. If you care for yourself only, you are a narcissist. If you care for a cause, you are a crusader. If you care for your country, you are a patriot.
These are all just love in relation to things or in the case of the first eg, love for self.

Often when we talk about love, we talk about love in a relationship. Even here, there're differetn kinds of love because we have different relationships.

The English language is inadequate at describing love here. In Greek, eros is the love between a man and a woman. Philio is brotherly /friendship love. Agape is God's unconditional love.

Agape is the highest love. In my opinion, this is the kind of love you try to aim for when you get married. It is the sacrificial, lay-down-your-life type of love. Early on in childhood, we learn this type of love from our parents. Only in family settings do we feel the closest thing to agape. I think God made families so that we can learn to love this way and also receive this type of love. And as we mature in age and in our faith, we learn that only God can truly love in the Agape way. We humans try as best as we can. Agape love is the perfect love because you focus not on your self but on others.

So if we talk about true love, Agape is that type of love.

The Holy Spirit creates love in the believer.

Rom 5:5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

Love is the chief test of Christian discipleship.

Luke 13:35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

If faith that does not show itself in love both toward God and man... Then it is dead and worthless.

13 You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. 14 The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." 15 If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

A Christian must love his enemy as well as his brother without hypocrisy.

Matthew 5:43"You have heard that it was said, `Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44 But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.

How do we know what Love is?

1John 3:16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. 17 If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? 18Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 19 This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence 20 whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.

Love is the outer manifestation of the inner Faith.

HOW?
Otheniel:

But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, ARE CHANGED into the same image from glory to glory, [even] as by the Spirit of the Lord.

Thats how. Cheers