Love

What is love?

You have probably tried to answer this question many times and each time your answer has been different.

Why?

Because you change. Because your life changes. Because the personalities you associate with love change or replace. Because you think that love changes too.

Does love actually change?

Only imperfect things change, but not love.

Does love end?

Only temporary things end – physical attraction, carnal desire, passion, feelings, emotions, but not love!

And here you may say:

„Isn‘t that what love is?“.

No, that‘s not what love is. This is the delusion about love. We mistakenly associate love with earthly and transient things, but it...

It comes from eternity. From God. And it is eternal and perfect. Because God is eternal and perfect! Because

GOD is love!

One of the characteristics of God is love! And when God envelops you with His love, then you truly understand with your whole being what love is – holy, merciful, gracious, infinite!

Love that forgives you!

Love that pacifies you!

Love that sanctifies you!

Love that saves you!

The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying:

„ Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee“.

Jeremiah 31:3

 And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love, and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.

1 John 4:16

God‘s love for us

In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

1 John 4:9-10

 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God, being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God, to declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

Romans 3:23-26

No matter how good and sinless we think we are, the truth that the Bible reveals to us is that all people are sinners before the most holy God and the only thing we deserve is God‘s just wrath and eternal punishment for our sins. But it exists – the love of God, with which He sacrificed His Son, who redeemed everyone who believes in Him, from God‘s wrath and eternal punishment.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

John 3:16

 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Romans 6:23

For scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 5:7-8

Christ‘s love for us

God‘s love for us was fully revealed to us in and by His Son.

The Lord Jesus Christ said:

„As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you, continue ye in my love...

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.“

John 15:9, 13-14

Because of His love for us, the Son of God humbled Himself and willingly gave His life as a sacrifice for our sins.

Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father.

Galatians 1:4

Our human knowledge is not enough to explain and comprehend Christ’s self-sacrificing love. It shows us how perfect, humble, merciful, and loving God is, and how sinful and unworthy we are.

The apostle Paul wrote:

„For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height, and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.“

Ephesians 3:14-20

Before being betrayed and condemned to crucifixion, the Lord Jesus Christ, in His prayer to God the Father, prayed for those whom God gave Him and for whom He went to the cross:

„I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me, and they have kept thy word. Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me, and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. I pray for them, I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me, for they are thine. And all mine are thine, and thine are mine, and I am glorified in them...

Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word, that they all may be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them, that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.

 Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me, for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.

 O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee, but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it, that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.“

John 17:6-10, 20-26

God‘s love has been poured into our hearts by God the Holy Ghost

Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God, therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.

1 John 3:1

 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name; which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

John 1:10-13

For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost, Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Titus 3:3-7

 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry:

„Abba, Father“.

The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.

Romans 8:14-16

Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.

1 John 4:13

Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God, that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.

1 Corinthians 2:12

Because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

Romans 5:5

Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children, and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.

Ephesians 5:1-2

Through God‘s love bestowed upon him, every adopted child of God has the ability to love!

„Thou shalt love... “

 Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying:

„Master, which is the great commandment in the law?“.

 Jesus said unto him:

„Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it: Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets“.

Mattew 22:35-40

Our love for God

We love him, because he first loved us.

1 John 4:19

Lord Jesus Christ said:

„ If ye love me, keep my commandments.“

 John 14:15

„If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love, even as I have kept my Father‘s commandments, and abide in his love.“

 Светото евангелие от Йоан 15:10

If we live a life of submission to God, we will live in God‘s love! Love for God enables us to obey God. The Lord Jesus Christ gave us the perfect example of this by submitting completely to God the Father.

 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments, and his commandments are not grievous.

1 John 5:3

 And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.

1 John 3:24

But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected, hereby know we that we are in him.

1 John 2:5

The most important relationships in a person‘s life should be those with God, because He is the One who gave him life. Because human life is in God‘s hands. Because one day every person will stand before Him and will have to answer for his life!

Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations.

Deuteronomy 7:9

 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:28

But as it is written: „Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him“.

1 Corinthians 2:9

 Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him, I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.

Psalms 91:14-16

Our love for our neighbors

At the last supper with His disciples, the Lord Jesus Christ said to them:

A new commandment I give unto you: That ye love one another. As I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

John 13:34-35

The Apostle John writes in his first epistle:

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God, and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love...

Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us..

If a man say:  „I love God, and hateth his brother“, he is a liar, for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him: That he who loveth God love his brother also.

1 John 4:7-8, 11-12, 20-21

Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil, cleave to that which is good.

Romans 12:9

For this:

„Thou shalt not commit adultery“,

„Thou shalt not kill“,

„Thou shalt not steal“,

„Thou shalt not bear false witness“,

 „Thou shalt not covet“,

 and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely: „Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself“. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour, therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

Romans 13:9-10

For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this:

„Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself“.

Galatians 5:14

Who is my neighbor?

And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying:

 „Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?“.

He said unto him:

„What is written in the law? How readest thou?“.

And he answering said:

„Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbour as thyself“.

And he said unto him:

„Thou hast answered right, this do, and thou shalt live“.

 But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus:

„And who is my neighbour?“.

And Jesus answering said:

 „A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.

And by chance there came down a certain priest that way, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, and went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him:

„Take care of him, and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee“.

Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?“.

And he said:

 „He that shewed mercy on him“.

Then said Jesus unto him:

„Go, and do thou likewise“.

Luke 10:25-37

Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

 But whoso hath this world‘s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?

 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth.

1 John 3:16-18

Our love for our enemies

Jesus preached:

„Ye have heard that it hath been said:

 „Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy“.

 But I say unto you:

Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you, that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven, for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? Do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? Do not even the publicans so?

 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

Mattew 5:43-48

„Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you. Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you. And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other, and him that taketh away thy cloak forbid not to take thy coat also. Give to every man that asketh of thee, and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again. And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.

Luke 6:27-31

The Apostle Paul writes:

Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath, for it is written: „Vengeance is mine. I will repay, saith the Lord“.

 Therefore „if thine enemy hunger, feed him, if he thirst, give him drink, for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head“.

 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

Romans 12:19-21

God‘s love came into the world in the form of Jesus Christ, but many people did not recognize it, did not understand it, and did not accept it. They rejected Christ and His love. But He did not stop showing them His love. Let us remember the reaction of the Lord Jesus Christ to those who tortured, scourged, and mocked Him. Nailed to the cross, He, dying, prayed with love for them:

„Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do“.

Luke 23:34

Love Covers a Multitude of Sins

And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves, for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.

1 Peter 4:8

Forgiveness is a gift of love. Only a heart filled with love can overcome pain, insult, bitterness, and disappointment and forgive.

Love not only forgives, it also forgets. Love does not count the sins of the other, does not make a list of them, and does not constantly remind them. Love does not hurt.

„For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.“

Mattew 6:14-15

 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ‘s sake hath forgiven you.

Ephesians 4:32

 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering. Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any, even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.

Colossians 3:12- 14

If I don‘t have love, I am nothing!

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

Charity suffereth long, and is kind,

charity envieth not,

charity vaunteth not itself,

 is not puffed up,

 doth not behave itself unseemly,

 seeketh not her own,

 is not easily provoked,

 thinketh no evil.

Rejoiceth not in iniquity,

 but rejoiceth in the truth.

 Beareth all things,

 believeth all things,

 hopeth all things,

endureth all things.

 Charity never faileth  but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail, whether there be tongues, they shall cease, whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.

 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.

 But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.

 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

 For now we see through a glass, darkly, but then face to face, now I know in part, but then shall I know even as also I am known.

And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three, but the greatest of these is charity.

1 Corinthians 13

Let all your things be done with charity.

1 Corinthians 16:14

The God of love and peace shall be with you!

For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:38-39

Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work.

2 Thessalonians 2:16-17

 Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you...

 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.

2 Corinthians 13:11, 14

The publication uses texts from:

https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/

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