Husbands are to love their wives as Christ loves the church (Ephesians 5:25). We are to love our enemies-that is, we are to actively seek what is best for them (Matthew 5:44). We are to love the family of God (1 Peter 2:17). The Bible says that we are to love others the way that God loves us. He makes us “accepted in the Beloved” (Ephesians 1:6, NKJV).
Just as the father in the parable showed love to his prodigal son (Luke 15:11–32), so our Heavenly Father receives us with joy when we come to Him in faith. The Bible says that God’s love for us in Christ has resulted in our being brought into His family: “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” (1 John 3:1). Our human understanding of love is flawed, weak, and incomplete, but the more we look at Jesus, the better we understand true love. Any love we have for God is simply a response to His sacrificial love for us: “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 4:10). He is the initiator of a loving relationship with us. The Bible says that, since true love is part of God’s nature, God is the source of love. And God’s love does not require us to be “worthy” to receive it His love is truly benevolent and gracious: “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). God’s love is best seen in the sacrifice of Christ on our behalf (1 John 4:9). The Bible says that God was motivated by love to save the world (John 3:16). Of the greatest of God’s gifts, faith, hope, and love, “the greatest. There, love’s characteristics are listed: love is patient and kind love doesn’t envy, boast, or dishonor others love is not proud or self-seeking love is not easily angered, doesn’t keep a record of wrongs, and doesn’t delight in evil rather, love rejoices with the truth love always protects, trusts, hopes, and perseveres love never fails (1 Corinthians 13:4–8). The Bible gives many examples of love: the caring provision of Boaz for Ruth the deep friendship of David and Jonathan the poetic, passionate love of Solomon and the Shulamite the enduring commitment of Hosea to Gomer the fatherly love of Paul for Timothy and John for the church and, of course, the sacrificial, saving love of Christ for the elect.Īgape, the benevolent, selfless love that God shows, is mentioned often in the New Testament, including in the “love chapter,” 1 Corinthians 13. In the Greek, this word is agape, and it refers to a benevolent and charitable love that seeks the best for the loved one. Some of these words mean “affectionate love” others indicate “friendship” and still others, “erotic, sexual love.” There is also a distinct word for the type of love that God displays. The Bible uses several different words for “love” in the Hebrew and Greek, interchanging them depending on context. Everything God does is impelled and influenced by His love. In fact, the Bible says that “love is of God” and “God is love” (1 John 4:7–8) in other words, love is a fundamental characteristic of who God is. The Bible has a great deal to say about love.
0 kommentar(er)
