Love

THIS POST DOES NOT SPEAK TO ANY TYPE OF VIOLENCE OR ABUSE WITHIN A RELATIONSHIP.  

 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;[b] 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never ends.               

1 Corinthians 13:4-8a (ESV)

God's Word says:

Matthew 22:36-40 English Standard Version (ESV)

36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

Thus...Love the Lord like 1 Corinthians 13 speaks of AND love your neighbor (that means those in your realm of life) the same way.  These are the two greatest commands to believers.

Do we love God/others...patiently?...kindly?...without envy or boasting?...without being arrogant or rude?

Do we love God/others...by insisting on THEIR WAY?...without irritation or resentment?...without rejoicing is wrongdoing?

Do we rejoice with the truth?  God's Word is truth...do you rejoice at ALL it has to say.

God's Word as truth...

     Psalm 119:160--"The sum of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous ordinances is everlasting."

     John 17:17--"Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.

     Psalm 119:151--"You are near, O LORD, And all Your commandments are truth."

What must we do to love God and our neighbors in our effort to keep his commands?

We must be saved.

     This is the only way that we can understand God's Word.  It is foolishness to those who do not believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for their salvation.  

We must believe God's Word.

     We must read God's Word and believe it to be true.  If we do not believe God's Word to be true, we believe the lies of Satan and please our flesh.  We believe we know better than God and we believe that if we do what please us life will be better for us.  

We must fear God and obey His Word.

     The fear God is to revere Him for who he is and what he says.  Obeyig his word is how he outlines our way to show our love for him.  How do we know what God's Word says?  Read it...study it...meditate on it...pray for our heart to be inclined to His truth.

How to love God and our neighbors

What does God's Word say about how to love others?

     "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but, in humility consider others betters than yourselves."  Philippians 2:3

     Do we prefer what others want, desire, love?

     "The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man."  Ecclesiastes 12:13

     Do we fear God and keep His commandmnets?

     "pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working."   James 5:16b

     Do we pray for one another?

     "Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive."    Colossians 3:12-13

     Are we patient and forgiving of one another?

After all of the above, what is the most important thing to do?...LOVE!

     "And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony."  Colossians 3:14

"Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love." 1 John 4:8

"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."  Romans 5:8