As you know, for the past few weeks, we have been discussing the importance of fellowship in the Body of Christ. You've weighed in by giving me your comments on fellowship and what you think it means. I want to find out more.
What do you think love has to do with the value of fellowship. Can you have true fellowship without having love? Where does love fit in with fellowship? And perhaps the most important question...What is love?
Last Sunday, as we were discussing being connected to one another as a body of believers, we began to touch on this subject of love. No, not the love that you throw around at people so that you can be on their good side, the true love that distinguishes you as a disciple of Christ (1 John 4:12; John 15:8). During our discourse, we began to unravel this complicated 4-letter word and it opened the door to the questions listed above.
This opened my eyes to a great problem within the Church and world...if we do not know what true love is, we can never be in fellowship with each other. So I thought it appropriate to find out what you think love is, and where is the love that should be present in the world today. So please give me your comments. Don't be shy either! Let's get to the bottom of this problem so that more of us can begin to experience the love that Christ commands us to give.
Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.
~1 John 3:18
4 comments:
I believe love is the root of fellowship. If you have no love for your brethren, how can you fellowship?
What is love? Love is the best feeling you can have towards man. The word says to love yea one another as Christ first loved us and if we are "Christlike" we should be doing this all day everyday. Love is the essence of be unselfish, loyal & devoted.
I believe that love is a feeling or an emotion that lies in the body (sometimes dormant) and needs to be given as well as recieved for humans to survive. It is the one thing that is not easy to describe.
I know that God is love. It is He who encompasses everything that love is. He created us to be connected to other people on earth, because He wanted us to somehow begin to understand what His love is toward us. The Word tells us so much about love. Love is patient, kind, never jealous, boastful, proud or rude. Love does not keep a record of wrongs, etc. Love is not physical, but it is a choice. I think that if the world had more love...people had more love for one another, we would see each other as valuable, and not cause one another as much hurt & harm as we do. It would be a healthier planet. To love is God's greatest command. Not just love between a man & woman, but love as brothers & sisters between us all. Without love, fellowship cannot exist. ~Shaun
I can only go by what Jesus calls love and that passage is found in Matthew chapter 5:43-48. Pay attention to the highlighted area that is following, 43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor[g] and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,[h] 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet your brethren[i] only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors[j] do so? 48 Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.
Love is a decision that you and I have to make and it is not predicated on some warm fuzzy feeling, or goo goo eyes or anything like that, as a matter of fact it has nothing to do with feelings or emotions at all. But Jesus said love is the highlighted version above, and if you are not doing these things, "blessing those who curse you, doing good to those who hate you, and praying for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,[h] 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven"; then we are not loving at all.
God was repenting by Genesis chapter 6 that He was sorry that He even made man, and was wanting to destroy us all. So that tells me right there that it had nothing to do with His feelings. But He didn't let His feelings or our sins get in the way of His goodness.
There is so much more to say about this subject but those three things above are foundational and it is what Jesus said. If we "bless those who curse us, do good to those who hate us, and pray for those who spitefully use us and persecute us. God calls that love. He didn't say that we had to feel good about the person or even go to dinner or lunch. And if we do this for only those who do that to us, then Jesus said that is no good, even sinners, tax collectors and people of the world do the same. We are no different from anybody else and not like our heavenly FATHER, who is (HOLY) other than. Set apart and this is how the world is to know us. So love is a decision that we make everyday toward all men. I believe that feelings, getting together etc... are included in the decision process after it is made but not the driving force. Only God Himself is the driving force. By the way, He is LOVE and it is not something He possess but the essence of His being.
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