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Love
Sept 26, 2006 16:41:09 GMT -5
Post by st1_Emrys on Sept 26, 2006 16:41:09 GMT -5
Interesting that this came up, because I recently went to hear Josh McDowell speak. One of the things that impressed me most was his definition of love.
He drew it from Ephesians 5: 28-30
"So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself;
for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, because we are members of His body."
Note the phrase "for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it." What is it referring to? His own flesh. He is giving the opposite of hating: nourish and cherish. The opposite of hate? Love. (Particularly obvious due to the context).
So to love is to nourish and cherish. Here it is important to note that nourishing and cherishing are both actions that can be chosen. Love is not a feeling. That is why God can command us to love.
So love is to nourish and cherish. These words are not commonly known exactly by definition so I will define them:
These are not perhaps what you would expect
Nourish- to bring to maturity Cherish- to care for
Therefore love is to bring to maturity and to care for. Josh brought it down to an even simpler form: to provide and to protect.
I will say it again:
Love- to provide and to protect.
THAT is love.
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Love
Sept 26, 2006 18:07:43 GMT -5
Post by beefmonger on Sept 26, 2006 18:07:43 GMT -5
Okay, I'm still lost (like the child I am). Could you give me an example? There's someone I'm worried I'm not loving, so I'm extremely greatful that you started this topic. Thank you.
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Love
Sept 26, 2006 18:32:12 GMT -5
Post by steel_lily on Sept 26, 2006 18:32:12 GMT -5
Almost like a parent, BeefBoy....you want to give them as much wisdom as you can. If they do something stupid, you should point it out calmly and without anger. If possible, you should show them how to avoid the stupidity in the future.
At the same time, you should protect them. Not really keep them from life or from pain, just protect them from all unnecessary harm. I would die for anybody. There are those people who I would allow myself to be bound and tortured for. There are people I will stay up all night for, talking and just being there.
Love is sacrifice.
(More on this later, I have a very long and developed definition in my head, but a very long physics assignment to do)
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Love
Sept 26, 2006 22:31:01 GMT -5
Post by Kirke on Sept 26, 2006 22:31:01 GMT -5
"He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes."
"He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love."
Those are some of my favourite verses (deprived, mournfully (but for the sake of brevity) of their contexts, which I encourage everyone to examine) on love, bar the ones on marital love that Nate quoted. Those are grand verses...as is all of Solomon's Song...
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bert
Innocent Bystander
I do not need anymore truthless heroes
Posts: 2
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Love
Sept 26, 2006 22:56:58 GMT -5
Post by bert on Sept 26, 2006 22:56:58 GMT -5
Word up. I saw Josh McDowell a while ago and was impressed. Good message there.
I wholeheartedly agree...it is a shame that the world in which we live sees love as sexual. Maybe this is not the case in every situation, tho it is in the vast majority, esp. in homosexual "love".
It is about feeling...feeling...and more feeling. If a husband doesn't FEEL "in love", he simply files for divorce and commits adultery. hmm...what ever happened to the wedding vows?
...some scattered thoughts...
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Love
Sept 27, 2006 0:18:36 GMT -5
Post by beefmonger on Sept 27, 2006 0:18:36 GMT -5
Truthfuly, love isn't a feeling. After twenty years of marriage, a woman may not feel the romance anymore, but she can still love her husband. If it were a feeling, homosexual "love" would be valid, and so would the short-lived sexual relationship between two children. I know this topic was originally concieved from my not-knowledge of what love really was, but just because I don't know what it means doesn't mean I don't know what it doesn't mean So, what you all are saying is that basically the yearning for the well-being of another person and the ability/want/action of helping someone in any way they need it (whether it be discipline, teaching, protection, etc.) is love? If so, then I guess I'm not in too much trouble. By the way, I was just curious as to whether or not this forum accepts HTML.
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Love
Sept 27, 2006 5:16:56 GMT -5
Post by steel_lily on Sept 27, 2006 5:16:56 GMT -5
It does, but you have to specify it.
And yes, that is the basis for love. But it runs much deeper. Again, I am marshalling my words for when I have time to get them all down in some semblance of cohesion.
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Love
Sept 27, 2006 16:00:13 GMT -5
Post by Alameth of the Iron Fist on Sept 27, 2006 16:00:13 GMT -5
I have much to say on this topic as well, though I haven't the time now. Soon.
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Love
Sept 28, 2006 0:03:14 GMT -5
Post by Kirke on Sept 28, 2006 0:03:14 GMT -5
Love's being loyal to someone you love, even when it's the hardest thing you've ever done...or when you don't see eye to eye on things.
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Love
Sept 28, 2006 15:40:52 GMT -5
Post by st1_Emrys on Sept 28, 2006 15:40:52 GMT -5
Proof?
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Love
Sept 28, 2006 18:13:56 GMT -5
Post by Kirke on Sept 28, 2006 18:13:56 GMT -5
Proof the self-denial (putting the interests of others ahead of your own) is love?
Second Great Imperative.
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Love
Sept 28, 2006 21:15:25 GMT -5
Post by st1_Emrys on Sept 28, 2006 21:15:25 GMT -5
Biblical. Textual. I don't want to go look for whatever you're saying.
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Love
Sept 29, 2006 7:35:34 GMT -5
Post by Kirke on Sept 29, 2006 7:35:34 GMT -5
"Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
This is the first and great commandment.
And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."
"And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these."
"And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself."
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Love
Sept 29, 2006 8:26:47 GMT -5
Post by st1_Emrys on Sept 29, 2006 8:26:47 GMT -5
But what is love? That doesn't define it. It uses it.
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Love
Sept 29, 2006 11:37:23 GMT -5
Post by steel_lily on Sept 29, 2006 11:37:23 GMT -5
Love. 1 Corinthians 13.
That is not a romantic love described, but the love that should be felt for friends. Romantic love builds upon these precepts.
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Love
Sept 29, 2006 17:42:02 GMT -5
Post by beefmonger on Sept 29, 2006 17:42:02 GMT -5
*claps softly and slowly* Perfect, Steel. Clear biblical definition is always the best way to go =^)
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Love
Sept 29, 2006 21:35:16 GMT -5
Post by Kirke on Sept 29, 2006 21:35:16 GMT -5
Uh, Nate: "On these hang all the law and the prophets."
Proverbs 31.
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Love
Sept 30, 2006 9:17:31 GMT -5
Post by steel_lily on Sept 30, 2006 9:17:31 GMT -5
Irrelevant, James. It still didn't define love.
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Love
Sept 30, 2006 12:53:10 GMT -5
Post by st1_Emrys on Sept 30, 2006 12:53:10 GMT -5
At least one who understands.
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Love
Sept 30, 2006 19:55:14 GMT -5
Post by Kirke on Sept 30, 2006 19:55:14 GMT -5
The law and the prophets were given in the hardness of man's heart, for the chosen to keep before they were regenerated by God's Holy Spirit, before the Comforter came to us.
Love is that regeneration, which is greater than and upon which hangs all the law and the prophets. The Holy Spirit is God, God is love, and the regeneration is the movement of the Holy Spirit.
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Love
Oct 1, 2006 20:29:49 GMT -5
Post by steel_lily on Oct 1, 2006 20:29:49 GMT -5
Biblical evidence?
Love is patient. The first thing directly stated about love in 1 Corinthians 13. <shakes head and chuckles> You are teaching me love, my friend...you are teaching me patience.
Love is kind.
Love is not envious or boastful.
Love does not seek its own end, it is not easily provoked.
It goes on...read it for yourself. But it is on these things, these basic precepts, that we are told to base our everyday actions. The whole of 1 Corinthians 13 alone is more than I can claim to live up to in daily life. Can I even begin to understand a deeper realm of love than that?
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Love
Oct 2, 2006 18:34:56 GMT -5
Post by beefmonger on Oct 2, 2006 18:34:56 GMT -5
Probably not, which is why Moses was only able to the see God's "back."
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