Questions About Love

[akaDaScribe]

Matthew 22

34But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together. 35Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, 36Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 37Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38This is the first and great commandment. 39And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Deuteronomy 6

4Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: 5And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

QUESTION 1:


Is love a choice?

 

[Katiedash]

I do see love as a choice. There are many in the world that are hard to love. With those people, we choose to love them. To do this though we need God to give us the capabilities to show this love.

 

[razzelflabben]

Matthew 22

34But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together. 35Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, 36Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 37Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38This is the first and great commandment. 39And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Deuteronomy 6

4Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: 5And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

QUESTION 1:


Is love a choice?

absolutely...but that being said, it is only possible to Love in the power of the Living God thus requires yielding to His work in our Lives.

 

[faroukfarouk]

I do see love as a choice. There are many in the world that are hard to love. With those people, we choose to love them. To do this though we need God to give us the capabilities to show this love.

It all started with God's initiative: "We love Him, because He first loved us". (1 John 4.19).

 

[faroukfarouk]

Matthew 22

34But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together. 35Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, 36Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 37Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38This is the first and great commandment. 39And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Deuteronomy 6

4Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: 5And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

QUESTION 1:


Is love a choice?

It starts with God; see 1 John 4.10; 1 John 4.19; Ephesians 2.5.

 

[akaDaScribe]

But if love is a choice, does that mean its something we do? Isn't love more than action?

 

[Katiedash]

It is all that. We show love by being nice to people, serving them, encouraging them. We feel love. But we can show love without actually feeling it.

 

[razzelflabben]

But if love is a choice, does that mean its something we do? Isn't love more than action?

Love is an action, something we do...think the commandment to Love or some of the things we are told that are Love but it is also an emotion...think here Christ in the garden and His sweat drops of blood...in addition Love is an attitude...Philippians 2 and others...it's all these things and more which makes it very different from the worlds idea of love.

 

[razzelflabben]

It is all that. We show love by being nice to people, serving them, encouraging them. We feel love. But we can show love without actually feeling it.

I would suggest to you that if you don't feel Love it is just an action of obedience which isn't a bad thing but not Love unless it is accompanied by the emotion and attitude that is the mark of real Love.

 

[faroukfarouk]

Love is an action, something we do...think the commandment to Love or some of the things we are told that are Love but it is also an emotion...think here Christ in the garden and His sweat drops of blood...in addition Love is an attitude...Philippians 2 and others...it's all these things and more which makes it very different from the worlds idea of love.

Philippians 2 is a very relevant passage.

 

[faroukfarouk]

It is all that. We show love by being nice to people, serving them, encouraging them. We feel love. But we can show love without actually feeling it.

In the end it's beyond feelings, which can come and go. It's more about the Godward aspect that then influences our treatment of others.

 

[akaDaScribe]

It is all that. We show love by being nice to people, serving them, encouraging them. We feel love. But we can show love without actually feeling it.

But, if we don't feel anything, isn't that just doing nice things or doing what we believe to be right? I can do kind things for people and it doesn't mean i love them or does it?

 

[razzelflabben]

Paul talks about knowing his faith by his works...iow's his works demonstrate the depths of his faith. Likewise we can say the same about Love (Biblical) our actions show the depth of our Love towards others.

 

[Katiedash]

But, if we don't feel anything, isn't that just doing nice things or doing what we believe to be right? I can do kind things for people and it doesn't mean i love them or does it?

We are called to love all. That could mean those who have done serious sins, or at least what society considers serious sins. Murder, rape etc. Maybe it is that we do the actions of loving them until God helps us to feel the love? Ok, I know those can be dangerous. We always need to remember safety, boundaries, consequences.

 

[razzelflabben]

Very few people know that there is a goal involved in Love, this goal goes a long way to help us understand the emotion of Love. See, the world tells us that love is a warm fuzzy feeling but Love (Biblical Love) is very different. The emotion we feel doesn't have to be a warm fuzzy feeling, rather it has to have a purpose, a desire that the recipient will find reconciliation/restoration first to God then to others...it's the "feeling" of wanting the best for the person receiving our Love. Again, look at Christ in the garden...His emotion wasn't just that the cup might pass from Him but that if we needed no other way, He would willingly give it all...that is a powerful emotion the likes of which this world version of love cannot compare.

 

[faroukfarouk]

We are called to love all. That could mean those who have done serious sins, or at least what society considers serious sins. Murder, rape etc. Maybe it is that we do the actions of loving them until God helps us to feel the love? Ok, I know those can be dangerous. We always need to remember safety, boundaries, consequences.

I think the role of prison visitors can be a blessing. It calls for a lot of humility not to talk down to people.

 

[Katiedash]

If one was to really read my story on my blog. They would understand my thinking as far as loving offenders. So many told me to divorce him. God told me no I have more. We are finally seeing the results of this. I had to decide to continue to love him so that God could bring about the feeling of love in me again.

 

[razzelflabben]

If one was to really read my story on my blog. They would understand my thinking as far as loving offenders. So many told me to divorce him. God told me no I have more. We are finally seeing the results of this. I had to decide to continue to love him so that God could bring about the feeling of love in me again.

exactly...the humility of Love that causes us to want the best for the other person, creates a covenant whose intent/purpose is reconciliation/restoration...amen

 

[akaDaScribe]

If one was to really read my story on my blog. They would understand my thinking as far as loving offenders. So many told me to divorce him. God told me no I have more. We are finally seeing the results of this. I had to decide to continue to love him so that God could bring about the feeling of love in me again.

Went you your website, but didn't see your story. Where is it?

 

[akaDaScribe]

exactly...the humility of Love that causes us to want the best for the other person, creates a covenant whose intent/purpose is reconciliation/restoration...amen

Where is the choice in this?