Preach on dear brother, "By this shall all men know that ye are MY
disciples, because ye have love one to the other."
On 12/21/2020 12:35 PM, Don Martin wrote:
AMEN! May love for the Brethren (and Sisters) always abound as evidence of our Hope.
(see attached ponderings).
D.E. Martin, Sr.
*From:*forthepoor-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:forthepoor-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] *On Behalf Of *Alvin Cloud
*Sent:* Monday, December 21, 2020 11:32 AM
*To:* forthepoor@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
*Subject:* [forthepoor] Re: You suggested sharing, so I did.
Well said brother, we are recipients of God's love and desire to love Him and each other in the same way but are only capable of loving according to the measure of faith/grace we have been given. Even love for our children requires a selflessness that is contrary to our Adamic nature and ranges from the mother who would give her own life for her child to those who we see increasingly would abandon their own flesh and blood or dispose of it for mere convenience.
1 Corinthians Chapter 13 describes the love of our Heavenly Father for His children manifested in His son Jesus on Calvary. That is the love we all aspire to, yet fall so painfully short of. As Bro. Mike said, "We love Him because He first loved us". The "charity" chapter of first Corinthians is speaking of that "agape" love Chuck wrote of in his post and the last verse says it all:
1 Corinthians 13:13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity (agape).
On Sun, Dec 20, 2020 at 12:51 AM <charles.chafin@xxxxxxxxx <mailto:charles.chafin@xxxxxxxxx>> wrote:
God is the origin of love. We could not
love without His influence. I have surmised
for some time that the love we know was given
by God(even before I believed). We love our
family, for the most part. And we love
other’s, for the most part. However, the love
a parent has for their children is unique,
for believing and most unbelieving alike. A
believer’s love for a child’s highest good in
God is influenced by our faith.
A parent’s love gives us a small glimpse
of God’s love. He sacrificed for us. He
nurtures us. He gives us example. He soothes
us in our pain and grief. He wants good for
us even though we do not always understand.
He gives of Himself. He asks of us nothing
more than He has willingly done. Christ lived
the perfect life of a Son.
I’ve heard of the moral absolutes in
discussions for interacting with
evolutionists. I.E. where do those morals
come from. It is an excellent argument that
is constantly attacked. This newest
generation does not believe in absolutes at
all. But, what of love. It does not fall into
a moral category that I’m aware of. Love is
one of the illogical things we do. It is not
true love by any means, and yet it exists in
most. Why is it considered natural to love
the helpless child or puppy? It’s because He
gave this to us as part of His image. The
fall gave us self-love/pride.
The love given of God also ties into our
conscience. If you asked a lot of
non-believers if a god should be good and
loving, would they not, probably agree that
he should. The conscience will give them the
answer regardless of who their god is. Every
perceived or realized truthful love comes
from God’s love for His creation.
From an unknown author:
We all have a basic understanding of what
love is, but we are unable to comprehend the
depths of True love. This is the love that
God embodies. God is the genesis of love; He
is its source; and it is by Him that we
experience love. God's love is based in a
supreme desire to glorify Himself, for He is
the being most worthy of love. By seeking His
own glory, God pours forth His love upon His
creation that it might better give glory to
Him. God loves His creation and better than
His creation, God loves His people — those
whom He will take with Himself into eternal
glory! This is one of the greatest truths of
Scripture: in spite of who we are and though
God hates the workers of iniquity, in spite
of all this, God still loves us! It's
amazing.
Donald W. Burdick gives three characteristics
of this godly sort of love:
It is spontaneous. There was nothing of
value in the persons loved that called forth
such sacrificial love. God of His own free
will set His love on us in spite of our
enmity and sin. [Agapē] is love that is
initiated by the lover because he wills to
love, not because of the value or love
ableness of the person loved.
It is self-giving. [Agapē] is not
interested in what it can gain, but in what
it can give. It is not bent on satisfying the
lover, but on helping the one loved whatever
the cost.
It is active. [Agapē] is not mere
sentiment cherished in the heart. Nor is it
mere words however eloquent. It does involve
feeling and may express itself in words, but
it is primarily an attitude toward another
that moves the will to act in helping to meet
the need of the one loved.
All true believers have this love, and all
who have it are true believers.