A Different Kind Of Love

1 John 4:8: He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.

God is love. God The Father, God The Holy Spirit and God The Son share the same attributes. Jesus is God the Son. When we receive Him we receive love. When we reject Him we reject love. When we disobey Him we disobey love. He IS love. When we receive Jesus we receive a new kind of love that we didn*t have before. IT IS THE GREATEST NEED OF MANKIND. It meets our need so bountifully that it is able to flow out of us and meet the need of others. The kind of love that passes through us to others was impossible before we received Jesus. It is agape love. It is the love of God. God is the source of it. It is moral love. It is unselfish and unconditional love. It is the first listed fruit of the Spirit. It is greater than faith or hope. Without it, everything else is worthless.

Romans 5:5: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

Galatians 5:22-23: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

1 Corinthians 13:13: And now abideth faith, hope, charity, (agape) these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

1 Corinthians 13:1-3: Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

This kind of love is patient with us and makes us patient with others. It is kind to us and makes us kind to others. It fulfills us so we don*t need to envy others. It makes us humble. It builds us up in fulfilling ways so we don*t need to build ourselves up. It causes right behavior. It is not selfish. It replaces anger. It thinks pure thoughts. It does not enjoy sin. It rejoices over truth. It is strong enough to bear burdens. It believes every truth. It is hopeful. It can endure anything. It never ends.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8: Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, 5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; 6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; 7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. 8 Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.

Sin deprives us of our greatest need. It deprives us AND others of the love of God.

Isaiah 59:2a: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, . . .

When love flows through us it will meet the temporary earthly needs of others. But the greatest activity of love is to encourage unbelievers to receive Jesus and have their ETERNAL need met. The next greatest activity of love is to encourage believers to obey this command:

Jude 1:21a: Keep yourselves in the love of God, . . .

Care to discuss A Different Kind Of Love with Ron?

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