Posted 10/27/2008 - 5:26pm by John Kang
We all have our own ideas and understanding of love....
We've seen it in movies, on tv shows, and daily lives that we all have our own understanding of love. I spent most if not all of my 24 years of life trying to find and live out that love that we all ache for so much in this fallen world. Many broken hearts and sad days have passed by and yet I do no look back in regret for I am grateful to GOD for not falling into my definition of "LOVE" I've spent countless hours trying to figure out what love is and after a lot of thinking and praying this is what I came up with after 24 years so far.
Love….
Love isn’t what you see in the movies or tv shows
Love isn’t that lovey dovey feeling that you get when you like a girl or boy
Love isn’t a boyfriend or girlfriend
Love isn’t the relationship we long for
Love isn’t an infatuation or obsession
Love isn’t buying expensive things
Love isn’t dating or courting
Love isn’t what we perceive it to be
Love is something amazing
Love is sharing and caring
Love is having parents who care
Love is the mother who gets up early to make your favorite food and wake you up
Love is the father who works long shifts and still makes it to your game or recital
Love is the brother you fight with
Love is the sister who won’t leave you alone
Love is the wife who will gladly endure 9 months of aches and pains so you can have a child to love
Love is having kids who you would do anything for
Love is someone who gave up their son to save a family who turned away
Love is the man hanging from that tree who died for you and me
John 15: 12-14 says this
My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command.
THE ULTIMATE DEFINITION OF LOVE STARES US IN THE FACE EVERYDAY
OUR MERE EXISTENCE, THE AIR WE BREATHE, THE PEOPLE AROUND US, THAT BECAUSE JESUS DIED WE ARE SAVED AND WE CAN GO TO HEAVEN.
LOVE ULTIMATE LOVE IS WHEN WE UNDERSTAND WHO WE ARE AND WHAT WAS SACRIFICED SO THAT WE CAN BE HERE TODAY. AND NO MATTER HOW MUCH WE TURN AWAY OR SIN AGAINST GOD HE STILL LOVES US UNTIL WE BREATHE OUR LAST BREATHE.
LOVE IS THE CROSS THAT WE KNEEL BEFORE, THE CROSS WE CARRY,
WHEN WE FINALLY COME TO UNDERSTAND THAT LOVE
THERE'S NOTHING IN THIS WORLD THAT CAN TAKE THAT AWAY
In a world so fallen how can GOD be glorified when we as his own people don't stand up and fight let alone LOVE each other?
Love GODly LOVE is what we need to share with each other
I LOVE EACH AND EVERYONE AT KPCE!!!
Good post brotha. Gospel of Love is powerful and stirs the hearts of the people. I Love Love.
Baby don't hurt me, no more. (Man, I hated that song!)
Love is definitely one of the most abused and misused words in our vocabulary. How can the sacrificial acts of Christ be described with the same word that describes our affection for ice cream, cars, etc? It just doesn't make sense.
To me, love is sacrifice. Jesus demonstrated his love for us by dying for us. Parents show love for children by sacrificing for them. Don't call yourself a loving person if you're not willing to sacrifice. Love that is not willing to sacrifice is not really love at all. A lot of the examples of love John (Kang, not the disciple John) listed are examples of sacrifice. So I agree with him. If the Church were to love sacrificially, our churches would be standing room only. But we have failed miserably in this respect, which is why so many churches are dying.
Many struggle to discern God's will for their lives. Well, one thing is for sure. God calls us to love. No need for discernment there. Let's love!
John,
I can't agree with you more. You hit the bulls eye when you beautifully describe what the Biblical definition of love is. Many people know (intellectually at least) the "Love" chapter in 1 Corinthians 13, but very few actually live their lives out according to that passage. Why? Because they do not have the Holy Spirit living in them to enable them to live that way.
Some of you may remember the book "I Kissed Dating Goodbye" by Josh Harris (interesting read for those wanting to read a fun book about dating). Harris says that the world's definition of "love" is defined as a man & woman embracing each other and saying 'I love you' to each other while the movie screen fades to credits and people leave the theatre feeling good about themselves. While there may be elements of 'love' in this, ultimately it is only infatuation. This is completely different from God's definition of love and our brother John Kang has so eloquently described in his blog... Harris says that God's definition of love is to point to His Son hanging on a tree, and He says "That is Love!" The world cannot offer this Agape Love (the highest form of love) because people who don't know Christ can only live for themselves, which the Bible says is the reason why they are headed to hell.
Jesus himself says that the world would recognize the church as the His church by loving each other; and not by speaking in tongues or possessing all the gifts of the Spirit, which is still important but not as important as loving each other. I agree with Pastor Isaac that the reason why so many churches in America are dying is because there is no love in the church. I wonder how Jesus would feel if He came to our Sunday service...would He feel loved and accepted or would He just be turned away or ignored as a newcomer? I myself am guilty of not reaching out to new people and making them feel welcomed but I think that God would want us to go beyond our comfort zones and reach out to people we don't feel comfortable talking to...
That's my 2 cents
Peace!