It's with great delight I welcome you all to February. This is because it has among other things availed us another opportunity of ministering to your spirit, especially in this month of Valentine when a lot of people celebrate the love they neither know nor understand, so they overtly abuse it.
This edition of PRAISEFOCUS is focusing on Love. Love means different things to different people. To be sure we are not in error the Bible in 1 Cor.13: 4-8 outlined about sixteen characteristics of genuine love. These qualities for us, should be a standard for every believer when it comes to matter of Love. So what meaneth this Love to you?.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
TALK ABOUT LOVE
TALK ABOUT LOVE
“Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the Day of Judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. “There’s no fear in love; but perfect love (not lust) casts no fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love Him because He first loved us.” 1 John 4:17-19.
This is the biblical aspect of love, and this is the perfect love thru’ which all beings of the earth should follow. Not the world’s love (lust), which can’t go with above quotation.
Now, let us talk about the love that concerns us, though in biblical injunctions but of two people (male & female). Do you believe that only your physiology, glands and your hormones can provide love? It is not true. Love is part of relationship – It can’t be reduced to physical characteristics and body chemistry.
Love doesn’t necessarily connect with having sex alone as some people term it as ‘making love’. It’s always part of relationship in the sense that it is all about giving, sharing, communicating, enduring, tolerating ones partner, contributing to the well being of one another.
Physical characteristics can go with love but on the perfect side, it can go all the way down the line on lust: Love is spiritual, according to the scriptures. If you do not love, you don’t know God for ‘God is love.’ That’s why it’s said, real men love God but fakes lust after girls .
Now, ignorance to the knowledge of love is usually a greater spur to fear than the knowledge of love itself. For wisdom does not grow in isolation. The philosophy of love has dated back before the beginning of civilization, right from the days of Adam & Eve. It was love that bound them to God in the Eden Garden until they lusted after the fruit of the knowledge of good and bad. You see, lust is deadly but love promotes life. Take note! When somebody says 'I love you' watch him very closely and monitor his character, actions and advancements when and when not in your presence. Don't succumb to a person's sweet talks when he makes advances to you (he may be lion on sheep's clothing).He will use you and dump you when satiated. And this is lust in its widest sense, there's no attachment of love in it. Though he will spend money on you but that's to get you to his bed, when he has fully gotten what he wants from you (that's your body),he just give you the boot, then and only then will your eyes open. So don't fall prey to their money, no matter how alluring it can be. It is only physical.
Now talk of relationships. When it’s built on genuine love is beyond human redemption and that is the relationship that is loving and trusting, based on a realistic assessment of each others virtues and faults. This is love not lust. And this is the love that makes you feel as if you're high in the clouds with masses of energy and no need to sleep.
Love is a strong human magnetic force that can drive one crazy. It is a strong feeling which body or heart can express. But one can assess lust in terms of promiscuity and wantom immorality, it is not principled and conscientious.
Lust deals on immoral affairs and promiscuous relationships which are precarious especially in terms of AIDS/ HIV, and one can always find fault with the partner but love is a pure blissful affair and a robust one in which the partners do not feel precarious of each other’s company for the love of God creates no error and knows no evil.
By David Ikey Agu
“Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the Day of Judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. “There’s no fear in love; but perfect love (not lust) casts no fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love Him because He first loved us.” 1 John 4:17-19.
This is the biblical aspect of love, and this is the perfect love thru’ which all beings of the earth should follow. Not the world’s love (lust), which can’t go with above quotation.
Now, let us talk about the love that concerns us, though in biblical injunctions but of two people (male & female). Do you believe that only your physiology, glands and your hormones can provide love? It is not true. Love is part of relationship – It can’t be reduced to physical characteristics and body chemistry.
Love doesn’t necessarily connect with having sex alone as some people term it as ‘making love’. It’s always part of relationship in the sense that it is all about giving, sharing, communicating, enduring, tolerating ones partner, contributing to the well being of one another.
Physical characteristics can go with love but on the perfect side, it can go all the way down the line on lust: Love is spiritual, according to the scriptures. If you do not love, you don’t know God for ‘God is love.’ That’s why it’s said, real men love God but fakes lust after girls .
Now, ignorance to the knowledge of love is usually a greater spur to fear than the knowledge of love itself. For wisdom does not grow in isolation. The philosophy of love has dated back before the beginning of civilization, right from the days of Adam & Eve. It was love that bound them to God in the Eden Garden until they lusted after the fruit of the knowledge of good and bad. You see, lust is deadly but love promotes life. Take note! When somebody says 'I love you' watch him very closely and monitor his character, actions and advancements when and when not in your presence. Don't succumb to a person's sweet talks when he makes advances to you (he may be lion on sheep's clothing).He will use you and dump you when satiated. And this is lust in its widest sense, there's no attachment of love in it. Though he will spend money on you but that's to get you to his bed, when he has fully gotten what he wants from you (that's your body),he just give you the boot, then and only then will your eyes open. So don't fall prey to their money, no matter how alluring it can be. It is only physical.
Now talk of relationships. When it’s built on genuine love is beyond human redemption and that is the relationship that is loving and trusting, based on a realistic assessment of each others virtues and faults. This is love not lust. And this is the love that makes you feel as if you're high in the clouds with masses of energy and no need to sleep.
Love is a strong human magnetic force that can drive one crazy. It is a strong feeling which body or heart can express. But one can assess lust in terms of promiscuity and wantom immorality, it is not principled and conscientious.
Lust deals on immoral affairs and promiscuous relationships which are precarious especially in terms of AIDS/ HIV, and one can always find fault with the partner but love is a pure blissful affair and a robust one in which the partners do not feel precarious of each other’s company for the love of God creates no error and knows no evil.
By David Ikey Agu
THE TRUE MEANING OF LOVE
THE TRUE MEANING OF LOVE
Love is choosing to do kind, unselfish deed for others. Love is not just emotion, it is a decision. It is not just feelings, it’s an action, some people mistake feeling of lust for love. Love is giving and forgiving, helping and thanking. Love is not about being convenient but being committed and consistence to care, willingness to share and sacrifice, love must be honest and true and should be shown by deeds not by words of mouth only.
Love comes in different forms, it's a concept that has distinct types. There are three major types of love: Eros, Phileos and Agape Love:
Eros Love:
This is a romantic type of love and should only be practised by husband and wife. It is the type of love with passion and longing between an opposite sex to crave and desire each other.
It's the love that moves a man and a woman to become one entity.
Phileos Love:
This can be called brotherly love, it's the love between relatives and friends. It moves us to share what we have among one another.
Agape Love
This is a pure love of God - the love between God and human beings. This love is pure and magical, it moves beyond physical, emotional to spiritual.
Agape love & Philoes love can be practised by all Christians, but eros is meant for husband and wife. Unfortunately this is the kind of love many unmarried people mistake for love which in turn lead to fornication. The bible makes us to understand how terrible is the sin of sexual immorality. It's the sin that defies the body. 1 Cor. 6:18, I Theses 4:3-8, II Tim. 2:22. For us Christians the standard of God is to wait for marriage before sex (that is between husband and wife only), as this will help you build your marriage on trust. Then you will enjoy and respect each other.
By Angela Onwabhagbe Musa
Love is choosing to do kind, unselfish deed for others. Love is not just emotion, it is a decision. It is not just feelings, it’s an action, some people mistake feeling of lust for love. Love is giving and forgiving, helping and thanking. Love is not about being convenient but being committed and consistence to care, willingness to share and sacrifice, love must be honest and true and should be shown by deeds not by words of mouth only.
Love comes in different forms, it's a concept that has distinct types. There are three major types of love: Eros, Phileos and Agape Love:
Eros Love:
This is a romantic type of love and should only be practised by husband and wife. It is the type of love with passion and longing between an opposite sex to crave and desire each other.
It's the love that moves a man and a woman to become one entity.
Phileos Love:
This can be called brotherly love, it's the love between relatives and friends. It moves us to share what we have among one another.
Agape Love
This is a pure love of God - the love between God and human beings. This love is pure and magical, it moves beyond physical, emotional to spiritual.
Agape love & Philoes love can be practised by all Christians, but eros is meant for husband and wife. Unfortunately this is the kind of love many unmarried people mistake for love which in turn lead to fornication. The bible makes us to understand how terrible is the sin of sexual immorality. It's the sin that defies the body. 1 Cor. 6:18, I Theses 4:3-8, II Tim. 2:22. For us Christians the standard of God is to wait for marriage before sex (that is between husband and wife only), as this will help you build your marriage on trust. Then you will enjoy and respect each other.
By Angela Onwabhagbe Musa
LOVE OR LUST?
“Love is all that matters” were the words that stood right above the marker board in my third year biochemistry class. I never thought for minutest of seconds whose idea it was or their personality, it struck me as true. The subject Love is not monopolistic or status-centered because whether dreg or cream of society, everyone has a word or two.
Love seems to be a household word and definitely a stranger, but on the contrary “Lust is well-expressed but unmentionable. It sound queer to say “I lust after you”, “I Love you” seems better perhaps! But when we popularize the word “Love” in many cases the deed is lust. Like every other word, love has an origin. I believe Love (at the risk of saying True Love) is divine and this is the point of departure between both four-letter words. Lust is everything that Love is not. Its victim stages an unquenchable affection for their naïve counterpart, but this rises and falls on sexual feelings. The bible reels off the matchless qualities of love in 1 Cor. 13: 4 - 8 and the slightest aberration of that is the beginning of lust. It doesn't matter who the guy or lady is; what do you feel? Love or Lust?
By Nnamdi Nonny-Okoli
Love seems to be a household word and definitely a stranger, but on the contrary “Lust is well-expressed but unmentionable. It sound queer to say “I lust after you”, “I Love you” seems better perhaps! But when we popularize the word “Love” in many cases the deed is lust. Like every other word, love has an origin. I believe Love (at the risk of saying True Love) is divine and this is the point of departure between both four-letter words. Lust is everything that Love is not. Its victim stages an unquenchable affection for their naïve counterpart, but this rises and falls on sexual feelings. The bible reels off the matchless qualities of love in 1 Cor. 13: 4 - 8 and the slightest aberration of that is the beginning of lust. It doesn't matter who the guy or lady is; what do you feel? Love or Lust?
By Nnamdi Nonny-Okoli
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)