Love Ignorant

“Love Does” earlier this year a Minister/ Teacher by the name of Doug Jones blessed my church with what I deem to be the best definition for Love on this side of the earth.

• Love: joyfully chooses to take an action that promotes another persons well being; Love does the most beneficial thing for the recipient at that moment.

• The opposite of Love is (Selfishness) not (Hate): the unwillingness to inconvenience yourself for another persons well being.

With this being said; I believe the first question that should arise is how do we do the most beneficial thing for God? The answer is simple; the most beneficial thing one could do is obey the word of God.

John 14:15:
15If ye love me, keep my commandments.
John 14:21:
21He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

Secondly; how do we as the body apply this to our everyday activity? Once we understand that love is not a feeling or an emotion but a verb (action word), I know that clarity and application is inevitable.

1 John 5
1Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.
2By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
3For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

Love has four faces
1. Love Gives
2. Love Protects
3. Love will believe in the recipient
4. Love will correct for the profit of the recipient

Hebrews 12:5-10:
5And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
6For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
7If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
8But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
9Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?
10For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.

Lets make one thing very clear; 1 Corinthians 13: 1-8 is NOT the definition of love but the qualities found in each face will be accompanied by 1Corinthians 13. Love is Learned! We must learn how to walk in love like Christ did. We have to study how He loved over and over to love how He loved. More importantly we must not try to figure it out on our own.

Love is always the result of a choice and if you are “Love Ignorant” you will use the term “Love” as the world uses it! The worlds love is conditional; ours is unconditional.

Luke 6:27-36:
27But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you,
28Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.
29And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloak forbid not to take thy coat also.
30Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again.
31And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.
32For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them.
33And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same.
34And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again.
35But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.
36Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.

“Give to the undeserving what they do not deserve and God will see to it you get what you do not deserve” Rev. Doug Jones.

Stay tuned for Pt. 2…
Always in Love,