I've been to a seminar and it was quite interesting, i just wanted to share.
Sin has affected our ability to truly love and to experience true love.
Love is a principle, a decision taken intelligently. A decision taken with the head not the heart.
We must not fall in love but we grow in love. Love at first sight is not love at all. Love is based on the knowledge of the other person. If you know little you love little. The more you know, the more you love.
Love must not be blind. Look at the facts. Feelings have zero IQ.
There are three components of love:
1. Passion
2. Intimacy
3. Commitment
1. It is a deep physical desire.
2. Intimacy is exchanging feelings. Being yourself, talking about yourself. We must not pretend to be someone else.
3. Willingness to stay loyal. To express fidelity. True love consolidate in one person. Commits to one person. Commitment for life.
True love can only be found in marriage. Love before marriage can be far from reality. People try to impress you. In marriage people become themselves. Unconditional love is found only in marriage.
Marriage is spelled W.O.R.K. Marriage is work, there's no place for pride and selfishness. We don't marry because of love but bcoz it's God's principle. In the bible there's no love before marriage: Ep 5.25, Titus 2.4.
Love runs on love(fuel) and God is the filling station.
Expressing my agreements and disagreement on this post doesn't make it anyless beautiful and educating.
* �Sin has affected our ability to truly love and to experience true love.�
I'm in total agreement with you on this one. I was amazed when reading 1 Corinth13:6, �Love does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;� In short, we can't claim to love and yet be sinful. Can sin and truth have anything incommon? Doesn't sin hinder us from experiencing an intimate relationship with God? Can we really claim to be his �vessels of honour� when associated with sin? His word in the book of Peter says, �Be holy for I am holy!� This means love is pore and in poreness we are expected to conduct ourselves.
* �We must not fall in love but we grow in love. Love at first sight is not love at all. Love is based on the knowledge of the other person. If you know little you love little. The more you know, the more you love.�
I seem to have a different perspective on this one sis, I thinks it's a question of the kind of love that may be referred to at that point in time. I personally believe inlove at first site though I'm fully aware that it is often mistaken with lustfulness. Another mistake that usually takes place in regard with �love at first site� is ignorance when coming to necessary nourishment in early days of this experiences. �Love at first site� is just as fragile as love that develops over time! It still requires patience, tolerant, attention, understanding etc; which are often neglected for a whole lot of reasons since we don't wanna wait, taking things easy and investing time in bonding with the other is essential before we can enjoy the fruits of this! Knowing more about you doesn't necessarily mean I'll most definitely love you more! How many times do we withdraw in relationships as we learn and discover more about the other part? This is where I agree that people who are inlove are most better off not committing while they inlove BUT rather wait until they have decided to love one another. Solid decisions are taken with a sober mind not influenced by emotions. You can't help it but being emotional when are inlove.
* �True love can only be found in marriage. Love before marriage can be far from reality. People try to impress you. In marriage people become themselves. Unconditional love is found only in marriage.�
I think that �true love� is and can only be found in God and then expressed to the other! How can a lifetime relationship be established without expression of �true love?� as a fundamental foundation? True love is also mistaken with sex, that's why we are told that it can only be enjoyed and expressed in marriage. Sex is a fruit of flesh and it's physical desires as you stated earlier. True love has nothing to do with sex (which I think it's being mistaken with hence associated with marriage) but a DEVINE love that is being drawn straight from the source (God) expressed through a mortal vessel (your partner).
Boaz being a man of integrity, most probably being one of his kind during that time; had no intentions of taking advantage of her vulnerability. Not even when he was drunk himself! Instead he protected her from herself. What an expression of true love is this? Doesn't love protect? Aren't we called to live up to that very purpose ourselves? How many guys who would have done that then and now? David went as far as killing someone's husband just so he has access to wife out of lustfulness! I have such respect for Boaz for he wasn't only advanced in age BUT he was just as matured mentally and spiritually! If any woman tested true love was Ruth inspite of her weaknesses.
Please ignore the above reply for I don't know what heppened that I should only have few sentances of my reply posted. Could have been my signal this side.
This is what I meant to share:
I know dear that you shared cheerfully from your heart on what you learned from the seminar that you attended.
My mind lately keeps revolving around Ruth and how blessed she was not only by being part of Jesus' chain of genealogy, but with further privileges of having Boaz as her chosen partner! What can a woman really ask for other than having a protective partner who goes as far as protecting you from your own vulnerability. With Ruth it was love at first site when she was only told about Boaz let alone meeting him! I personally can't help it but to wonder what was she really up to when she uncovered the man and laying on his feet? Could there be a chance that she was overwhelmed by the desires of her flesh maybe, not necessarily that she wasn't inlove (which reflects what I said on my reply earlier about love at first site being mistaken with emotions that take place along with it).
Boaz being a man of integrity, most probably being one of his kind during that time; had no intentions of taking advantage of her vulnerability. Not even when he was drunk himself! Instead he protected her from herself. What an expression of true love is this? Doesn't love protect? Aren't we called to live up to that very purpose ourselves? How many guys who would have done that then and now? David went as far as killing someone's husband just so he has access to wife out of lustfulness! I have such respect for Boaz for he wasn't only advanced in age BUT he was just as matured mentally and spiritually! If any woman tested true love was Ruth inspite of her weaknesses.
"We don't marry because of love but bcoz it's God's principle. In the bible there's no love before marriage"
That's not true. Jacob loved Rachel before they ever got married. But I agree that this was probably not the norm. It was an exception. I think, the reason why it was uncommon for people to love before marriage is because in those days, most marriages were arranged marriages. And in an arranged marriage, the relationship starts out being a friendship, and it slowly grows into love. So, that was the norm back then. But we live in a different culture today! Not everything that is true for Bible days is true now. But I agree with the rest of what you wrote. And thank you for taking the time to write it down!
Love at first sight can be deceitful because you can't love someone when you don't know him/her. You love an idea of him. Even when you are friends you cannot judge if you really love that person because there are things that you discover only after marriage. People can hide their flaws well for years but when you live with that person he can't hide who he really is and even you. Then it becomes real nakedness in the marriage when you discover the right and wrongs. After this stage people choose to stay or leave. Even in marriage people don't really love each other for they leave after bad times even though they promised to love for better or worst!!! It's biblical 1Co 13 talks about true love: long suferring, patience etc.. (My point of view)
I definitely have to disagree about love at first sight. As was mentioned Jacob did fall in love with Rachel at first sight. However love at first sight is not the norm in our lives, to some it never happens, and to others it only happens a couple of times in our lives. It has at least once to me.
I agree it may be confused with lust, but only to the untrained heart. Love at first sight in my opinion happens because we know the person before we had ever met. I don't know though I'm only guessing.
Also love at first sight can happen between us and God, or at least I think so. Consider those who dropped everything to follow the Lord when he was walking on earth. Not many of them turned away and stopped following him that we know of but it's not to say some didn't. The love of marriage can grow, as love itself transforms from a transient flighty feeling to the soldity of unconditional love, and the love of old age. Love is ever changing, and as long as it continues to grow just as we do it gets deeper.
Another case of a different form of love is that of a friend, of a brother. Consider David and Johnathan. It is said that from the moment they met 'their souls were knit together'. I'd say that's a pretty strong love. They went on to risk their lives for each other in many ways.
1mountain i do like what you shared about loving God at first sight. Never thought about it before. Well concerning love at first sight for me it's not true love as you know little about that person but i respect your opinion :)
