It's used everyday "I love pizza" "I love (insert name here)." "I love this show" etc... but its especially among Christians-going to a "Christian" college- I dont think a day went by that I didnt hear this word. For example "Love your neighbors" "love God" "Love your enemies" and the ol so famous 1 Corinthians 13- used at almost every wedding- "Love is patient, love is kind, It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud... so on" Love is a great concept...yet pure, true, unconditional love cant be accomplished left to our own accord.. when I think about love as the Bible describes it I always find myself feeling guity and ashamed- because I realize that anything I love... EVERYONE I love... unfortunately is for my self-gradification.It's based on conditions... think about it- we love someone because they have done something for us, been there for us, love us, make us feel good, or help us...I have never experienced love on this earth that is self-less and unconditional outside the Love Jesus Christ has for me- as a matter of fact- I wonder if we "christians" truely love God- or love God only because of what he has done for us- and in that case- its a conditional love..now Jesus- he displayed true, pure, unconditional love (John 3:16).. he gained nothing by going on the cross.. he did it solely for our benefit.. he loved us with the purest, deepest form of love. Love on this earth that the world offers is selfish.. we love for our gain. True love- the love that can't be mastered by our own accord- is selfless. True love- does so to benifit others.. in a world of selfish human nature- there is no way we can display true love without the Love of Christ in us. no matter how much we try- we will always love for our own gain if we do not love with the unconditional love Christ gives us- I hope to one day experience as well as give the purest form of love to the man God has prepared for me- but only through Christ can such love ever be obtained.
HATE
Hate is the opposite of love? or is hate only the absence of love? let me explain... you will hardly ever hear a good, faithful "Christian" say "I hate so and so..." However, you will find "Christians" everywhere with the absence of love... Christians who obstain from loving people within their church because they've been divorced.. or who dont love the person they walk by laying on the street, or who doesnt love someone because of their lifestyle- say being gay or having sex out of marriage just to name a few.....we don't love others because it makes us feel uncomfortable- which is again selfish- so we as humans left to our own accord love selfishly and we do not love selfishly.....you see you dont have to "hate" someone to not love them... and I know I just got done saying that pure, unconditional love is inobtainable for us as humans on earth without Christ.. that does not mean we do not love as we much as we know how and leave God's grace to make up for where we fall short.. I mean come on- it's sad when a someone who doesnt even believe in Jesus as God (the only one capable of pure unconditional love) can love others in society better than those who believe in the Purest love of all...
the opposite of love is not hate- its the absence of love..
As much as I am ashamed that we often times love selfishly- I am even more ashamed that we do not love at all... we dont have to hate someone to make them feel bad- all we have to do is not love them...
I believe in the Only One who displayed the purest form of love. Therefore I will love everyone with all the love I have (as selfish as it may be) and allow Jesus' pure, unconditional love fill in where I fall short.
I have thought some of the same things about love before. I have thought about why I loved the way I did and realized that my love wasn't as strong as it could be because it was based upon what I was getting from others. I had to think about how God loves and make a conscious effort to love like that. I think that the more you truly follow Christ's teachings, the easier it becomes to love in the 1st Corinthians 13 way--the most beautiful and powerful kind of love, in my opinion. It is the kind that God shows us and the most difficult for people to show one another.
�The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it's indifference.�
When you have children they will teach you unconditional love.
People who do not have Christ do experience love as love is something that God has created in us. Look at Pagans and how they love their children selflessly. How else would you explain that?
There are many people in this world who do love without selfish gain.
