Love
By
RL Tex Smith
April 21, 2008
There are few words in the English language that have the depth of meaning as the simple four lettered word called love. I do not claim to be a literary wizard with words and their meanings. Yet this word has always fascinated me. It represents a very complex human emotion. It is used in a host of ways both good and not so good[D1] .
Following are some of my thoughts on love and the uses of this little word that packs such a huge punch.
Firstly, although we may think that the feeling is the same for everyone, when we say we love someone, how can we really know for sure they feel the same as we do? I doubt we will ever be able to say with any certainty that everyone feels the same exact sensation. It is a matter of faith[D2] . We might be able to describe what we feel to one and other, yet we can not say that we feel exactly the same, because we are not inside the other person. We can not feel exactly what another feels. This I think, is part of what makes each of us unique from one and other.
When your heart aches because you can’t stand to be away from the person you love. When you feel as though you are completely empty when you are apart. When you can not concentrate on anything for any length of time, because all you can think of is your loved one. When you would rather please your loved one than anything in the world. When you would gladly trade places if it were possible rather than see them in pain or sick. When you would lay down your life to save them without hesitation. These are some of the feelings that indicate love.
John 15:13Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.
Another very interesting thing about love is how it changes over time. The love we feel when something is new and fresh, is not the same as when you first fall in love as it is after a time. It goes through many stages of almost complete metamorphosis. However, even though it goes through these changes, for the most part, people stay in love for life. It is my belief that love grows constantly which in turn causes it to go through these changes. Unfortunately, there are those cases where the growth is apart which leads to an end in the feeling. I have heard it said many times that we have to work at it. Being in love and making it grow in a healthy way takes a lot of commitment[D3] and compromise[D4] from both parties involved.
But what about inanimate objects? For example; do you feel the same as you did about those shoes as when you first bought them? You may say, I just love my shoes. I wonder, if this is true when you said it, will it still be true five years from now? Or might it be at that time, they will be worn out and your once great love for them has dwindled to the point of indifference[D5] . I am sure that when you think about it, you can come up with lots of things such as this. Then there is that old ball glove. There are new styles with much better padding, and a new one would look so much nicer. Yet the old glove, even though it looks as though it was drug up the road by a car, then backed over by the same thirty five times, still is considered irreplaceable[D6] .
Even with inanimate things, love is either growing, holding its own, or fading.
Now then, if the glove is stolen, do we feel the same sense of loss as we do at the loss of a loved one? Not likely, the two are completely different feelings. Yet we say in both cases that we love. Parting way with the old once loved shoes is hard, yet we endure it. In the case of the old glove we can’t seem to bring our self to get rid of it. If it gets to the point where it is falling apart and can be no longer fixed, we still keep it and hang it on a hook out in the garage. A loved one is a much deeper love[D7] .
The love of children by parents is different than that of the love between man and wife. The love of a pet is different than the parent’s love of a child.
The word love is frequently used instead of the word like. Often times the word like should be used rather than love, because like is what is really meant.
Indeed this small word is packed full of emotion. On the one hand so very simple and beautiful. On the other so complex and sometimes very painful.
Amid this mumble jumble of emotion, there is one love that is unchanging and endless. A love that is always forgiving. A love that one can depend on like no other. This love is the love of Christ.
There are times that I have found myself wondering, if I can’t really tell for sure how someone else feels, how can I know if the love[D8] I am trying to share is coming across the right way? Then it occurred to me.
Matthew 22:36-39.
36"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" 37Jesus replied: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38This is the first and greatest commandment.39And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'
The Lord is perfect, and he gave us perfect laws in the new agreement. If we live by these two great laws, the rest of the laws will fall in place. Perfect!
So then, that is fine for the love of the Lord and the love of your neighbors or friends, what about the other loves, like that of a wonderful beautiful woman?
Ephesians 5:25Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her
Galatians 5:22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
Ephesians 5:28In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.
Colossians 3:19Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.
These are only examples of answers the Bible can provide us. If we trust in His word, we shall never falter. We can rest assured that if we accept the Lord Jesus into our lives, if we pray to Him with a sincere heart and mind, He will guide us through the best and worst of times in our life. Including the loves that we encounter along the way. Through daily prayer and daily reading of His word, through loving Him with all of our heart and soul and mind, through putting our trust in him, through putting Him first in all that we do, the rest will fall into place.
John 3:16For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
I can think of no greater example of love than this. God loves me and you so very much that he made this great sacrifice for us. Jesus loves us so much that he died a horrible death for you and me. What greater gift could we ever receive than this? A love so full of Grace given to those that are not worthy of it. Perfect!
John 15:13Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.
I have heard it said over the years, “If there is a God…why doesn’t he show us proof?”
How much more proof do we need? Look at the miracles all around us. Everywhere I look I see another one. Just think of the emotions of love. If that is not a miracle I do not know what it is. Something that in one way seems so simple. Yet so very complex in another. Something as great as this could only be created by the one true God, our God.
When I look at the streams, how long they have run full of water, an endless supply. When I look at how nature replenishes it’s self, how one thing is dependent on the other, how perfect the system was designed, I am in awe, I need no proof of God, He shows me proof in my life every day.
Every day I do things that disappoint my Lord. That being said, every once in a while, I would like to think that perhaps I please Him. My goal is to always please Him. Yet I know that I am a creature whose very make up is full of sin. An example of this is provided to us by Philip Yancey in his book “What’s So Amazing About Grace?”
Here Yancey is quoting Ben Franklin; “There is perhaps no one of the natural passions so hard to subdue as pride. Disguise it. Struggle with it. Stifle it. Mortify it as much as one pleases. It is still alive, and will every now and then peep out and show itself….Even if I could conceive that I had completely overcome it, I should probably be proud of my humility.”
To be a Christian, especially in today’s world, it requires devotion, patients[D9] , joy, hope, and large amounts of love[D10] . Some would say that it requires a lot of work to stay faithful. I can only speak for myself, yes there is and always will be hard times. For me it is a labor of love. The more I learn the more I want to learn. The more I learn the more I realize, I am more aware of what love really is than I used to be. I have my Lord to thank for that.
In Christ’s Love Tex
[D1]There is a huge difference between Love and Lust. Love is often used incorrectly where Lust should have been used.
[D2]This is not unlike the faith we have in the Lord.
[D3]Does the Lord commit to us? Yes. Do we commit to the Lord? Sometimes.
[D4]Does the Lord compromise for us. I believe he does. Do we compromise for the Lord? Sometimes.
[D5]Here, we see similarities to relationships. It is, I believe, part of human nature to lose interest in things over time. Perhaps, we can then see another reason long time Christians seem indifferent.
[D6]This is very similar to relationships between men and women. It works both ways man to woman and vise versa. None of us want to lose our looks (Pride) thus the quest sometimes for new beautiful things to replace the old. The trick is, to allow your love to grow in a new way. One that has changed, but grown deeper. A true love of the heart always sees beauty in the other. Even through the wrinkles.
[D7]Hopefully, not something one hangs on a hook.
[D8]
If we love each other like we would want to be loved. Then it is a matter of faith.
[D9]What may have been taboo even ten years ago, may not be today. It requires patients and understanding to accept change. The only way love can grow is through constant change. We have a choice, we can cause our love to grow in a healthy way, or we can cause our love to grow apart, in this case, apart from the Lord.
[D10]It does not require people to be self righteous.
I believe each of us should try to evaluate ourselves each day. I believe we should pray that the Lord make us humble. Show us ways to subdue the feelings of self righteousness.
By
RL Tex Smith
April 21, 2008
There are few words in the English language that have the depth of meaning as the simple four lettered word called love. I do not claim to be a literary wizard with words and their meanings. Yet this word has always fascinated me. It represents a very complex human emotion. It is used in a host of ways both good and not so good[D1] .
Following are some of my thoughts on love and the uses of this little word that packs such a huge punch.
Firstly, although we may think that the feeling is the same for everyone, when we say we love someone, how can we really know for sure they feel the same as we do? I doubt we will ever be able to say with any certainty that everyone feels the same exact sensation. It is a matter of faith[D2] . We might be able to describe what we feel to one and other, yet we can not say that we feel exactly the same, because we are not inside the other person. We can not feel exactly what another feels. This I think, is part of what makes each of us unique from one and other.
When your heart aches because you can’t stand to be away from the person you love. When you feel as though you are completely empty when you are apart. When you can not concentrate on anything for any length of time, because all you can think of is your loved one. When you would rather please your loved one than anything in the world. When you would gladly trade places if it were possible rather than see them in pain or sick. When you would lay down your life to save them without hesitation. These are some of the feelings that indicate love.
John 15:13Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.
Another very interesting thing about love is how it changes over time. The love we feel when something is new and fresh, is not the same as when you first fall in love as it is after a time. It goes through many stages of almost complete metamorphosis. However, even though it goes through these changes, for the most part, people stay in love for life. It is my belief that love grows constantly which in turn causes it to go through these changes. Unfortunately, there are those cases where the growth is apart which leads to an end in the feeling. I have heard it said many times that we have to work at it. Being in love and making it grow in a healthy way takes a lot of commitment[D3] and compromise[D4] from both parties involved.
But what about inanimate objects? For example; do you feel the same as you did about those shoes as when you first bought them? You may say, I just love my shoes. I wonder, if this is true when you said it, will it still be true five years from now? Or might it be at that time, they will be worn out and your once great love for them has dwindled to the point of indifference[D5] . I am sure that when you think about it, you can come up with lots of things such as this. Then there is that old ball glove. There are new styles with much better padding, and a new one would look so much nicer. Yet the old glove, even though it looks as though it was drug up the road by a car, then backed over by the same thirty five times, still is considered irreplaceable[D6] .
Even with inanimate things, love is either growing, holding its own, or fading.
Now then, if the glove is stolen, do we feel the same sense of loss as we do at the loss of a loved one? Not likely, the two are completely different feelings. Yet we say in both cases that we love. Parting way with the old once loved shoes is hard, yet we endure it. In the case of the old glove we can’t seem to bring our self to get rid of it. If it gets to the point where it is falling apart and can be no longer fixed, we still keep it and hang it on a hook out in the garage. A loved one is a much deeper love[D7] .
The love of children by parents is different than that of the love between man and wife. The love of a pet is different than the parent’s love of a child.
The word love is frequently used instead of the word like. Often times the word like should be used rather than love, because like is what is really meant.
Indeed this small word is packed full of emotion. On the one hand so very simple and beautiful. On the other so complex and sometimes very painful.
Amid this mumble jumble of emotion, there is one love that is unchanging and endless. A love that is always forgiving. A love that one can depend on like no other. This love is the love of Christ.
There are times that I have found myself wondering, if I can’t really tell for sure how someone else feels, how can I know if the love[D8] I am trying to share is coming across the right way? Then it occurred to me.
Matthew 22:36-39.
36"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" 37Jesus replied: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38This is the first and greatest commandment.39And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'
The Lord is perfect, and he gave us perfect laws in the new agreement. If we live by these two great laws, the rest of the laws will fall in place. Perfect!
So then, that is fine for the love of the Lord and the love of your neighbors or friends, what about the other loves, like that of a wonderful beautiful woman?
Ephesians 5:25Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her
Galatians 5:22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
Ephesians 5:28In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.
Colossians 3:19Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.
These are only examples of answers the Bible can provide us. If we trust in His word, we shall never falter. We can rest assured that if we accept the Lord Jesus into our lives, if we pray to Him with a sincere heart and mind, He will guide us through the best and worst of times in our life. Including the loves that we encounter along the way. Through daily prayer and daily reading of His word, through loving Him with all of our heart and soul and mind, through putting our trust in him, through putting Him first in all that we do, the rest will fall into place.
John 3:16For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
I can think of no greater example of love than this. God loves me and you so very much that he made this great sacrifice for us. Jesus loves us so much that he died a horrible death for you and me. What greater gift could we ever receive than this? A love so full of Grace given to those that are not worthy of it. Perfect!
John 15:13Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.
I have heard it said over the years, “If there is a God…why doesn’t he show us proof?”
How much more proof do we need? Look at the miracles all around us. Everywhere I look I see another one. Just think of the emotions of love. If that is not a miracle I do not know what it is. Something that in one way seems so simple. Yet so very complex in another. Something as great as this could only be created by the one true God, our God.
When I look at the streams, how long they have run full of water, an endless supply. When I look at how nature replenishes it’s self, how one thing is dependent on the other, how perfect the system was designed, I am in awe, I need no proof of God, He shows me proof in my life every day.
Every day I do things that disappoint my Lord. That being said, every once in a while, I would like to think that perhaps I please Him. My goal is to always please Him. Yet I know that I am a creature whose very make up is full of sin. An example of this is provided to us by Philip Yancey in his book “What’s So Amazing About Grace?”
Here Yancey is quoting Ben Franklin; “There is perhaps no one of the natural passions so hard to subdue as pride. Disguise it. Struggle with it. Stifle it. Mortify it as much as one pleases. It is still alive, and will every now and then peep out and show itself….Even if I could conceive that I had completely overcome it, I should probably be proud of my humility.”
To be a Christian, especially in today’s world, it requires devotion, patients[D9] , joy, hope, and large amounts of love[D10] . Some would say that it requires a lot of work to stay faithful. I can only speak for myself, yes there is and always will be hard times. For me it is a labor of love. The more I learn the more I want to learn. The more I learn the more I realize, I am more aware of what love really is than I used to be. I have my Lord to thank for that.
In Christ’s Love Tex
[D1]There is a huge difference between Love and Lust. Love is often used incorrectly where Lust should have been used.
[D2]This is not unlike the faith we have in the Lord.
[D3]Does the Lord commit to us? Yes. Do we commit to the Lord? Sometimes.
[D4]Does the Lord compromise for us. I believe he does. Do we compromise for the Lord? Sometimes.
[D5]Here, we see similarities to relationships. It is, I believe, part of human nature to lose interest in things over time. Perhaps, we can then see another reason long time Christians seem indifferent.
[D6]This is very similar to relationships between men and women. It works both ways man to woman and vise versa. None of us want to lose our looks (Pride) thus the quest sometimes for new beautiful things to replace the old. The trick is, to allow your love to grow in a new way. One that has changed, but grown deeper. A true love of the heart always sees beauty in the other. Even through the wrinkles.
[D7]Hopefully, not something one hangs on a hook.
[D8]
If we love each other like we would want to be loved. Then it is a matter of faith.
[D9]What may have been taboo even ten years ago, may not be today. It requires patients and understanding to accept change. The only way love can grow is through constant change. We have a choice, we can cause our love to grow in a healthy way, or we can cause our love to grow apart, in this case, apart from the Lord.
[D10]It does not require people to be self righteous.
I believe each of us should try to evaluate ourselves each day. I believe we should pray that the Lord make us humble. Show us ways to subdue the feelings of self righteousness.
No comments:
Post a Comment