What is Love?
1 Corinthians 13:4-7
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
I really wanted to stand up for this one. Their is something that is just so true to the Christian faith that you can't deny, and that is that the greatest commandment of all: LOVE
Matthew 22:36-40
"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
We are first to love our Lord, then to love everyone else. I really want to pick at this and please, please, PLEASE if you find anything wrong with this, or anything you disagree with at all, PLEASE ask questions, I really want this to be clear, whether your a Christian or not, I think this is important for us all...
Love is patient,
What is patience? I believe it is best portrayed as the ability to handle waiting without getting heated/upset/hot-headed/"you-name-it". We should never rush anyone into or out of situations. If anyone falls behind either let them go at their own pace, or you need to help them to get to where they need to be. Figuratively and litterally, if someone is having trouble in an area in their life, help them out! Build them up and teach them how to improve themselves.
love is kind.
Kindness, is the quality of being warmhearted. Be considerate of others, and, for you men, be a gentlemen! Hold the door open for her! It doesn't have to be your girlfriend, this applies to everyone. Help your parents with some yard-work/dishes. Offer yourselves to help them out.
It does not envy,
Keyword here is NOT. It doesn't envy. This is because envy is more of a "jealous" type of admire. You love them so much, you want what they have. You should in fact love them with admiring them and adoring them. This means be happy for them, and be proud of them, so that they can be seen for the good qualities they have, and be remembered for them!
it does not boast,
Why would you show off your love, you shouldn't brag about your "ability to love" or how "you love them more". Love can't be measured, no such thing as a "love-o-meter" besides the thing you put $1 into and it gives you some random numbers. You are called to love and love only.
it is not proud.
Love isn't proud, pretty much the same thing said above. Don't be arrogant about it, you should be happy with the love you have for one another.
It is not rude,
I know this is a no brainer, but you would be surprised with how neglected this one can be. Lets say you are in a fight, which means you were rude probably in the first place, should you just sit their and stare at each other? Would you consider that polite? If you dad said, "What did you do today?" and you just stared at them, do you think they would say, "Hmmmm, how polite!" (But not sarcastically, because I know that can happen with a sarcastic attitude, which is rude by the way). Which reminds me. If your into rhyming, Having an attitude, is rude!. Totally just made that one up right here before you guys :-P, lol. But back to seriousness, could you imagine that if you were feeling bad, but you didn't want to talk about it? If you tell them that, they have many opportunities to be rude now. They could either just stop talking, and sit and try and think of what they did wrong to make you feel that way (I have done it a lot, I have been clean of that disease for some time now :-P) or they could even start nagging you about what it could possibly be. If you really didn't want to talk about it, and you were being serious, then they should just say to themselves, "You know, my friend is feeling pretty down right now, what can I do to make them feel better?" It's such an amazing remedy to have a real friend make you feel better after your down and blue.
it is not self-seeking,
If you are loving, you should be doing so because you want them to feel that security and happiness, and all those other qualities of love. You shouldn't love others, so that they can love you in return. Here is a scenerio for you. You have been loving on this person for a long time, and they started loving you back, but now they have a cool best friend which they are now pouring their love into them, but they aren't loving you too much now that they have that friend. Would it be appropriate to get mad at them for not showing that same love and adoration that you had for them, to you? If you had been loving them all that time just so they will love you back, that could potentially hurt you both. You could get mad at them, and probably come up with excuses why your mad at them, when the real reason is you feel like you wasted all that time loving them, when really you could have helped them feel accepted enough to hang out with this new person, because you loved and accepted them. By loving someone, and just being their for them, and giving them that "I am wanted, I am loved" feeling, you can do magic with that. You can do some great things to a person, but if you love them for the wrong reasons, you might have just started a timer on a bomb.
Here is another situation. This one is a little easier. Don't be nice to someone because they have something you want, and so you love them so you can get what they have.
it is not easily angered,
Very similar to what was said in the VERY beginning about patience.
it keeps no record of wrongs.
No grudges, or you will end up just like the grudge. JK. You can change whenever you want. You can't change anything about the past. You can do nothing about yesterday. Today is your fresh start at your new life. Always keep that in mind with yourself, and with others. Anyone can change at anytime they see fit. Don't hold things against them that they did months/years/days ago. Keep in mind though, if they are in the process of doing something wrong, don't just sit around and watch them self-destroy themselves, tell them about it, if you truly care about them! You don't want to see them get hurt!
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
Be happy when they do good. Encourage them to do better. This is what makes us grow and mature and become stronger with one another. Because we can make each other better and joyful. Don't watch them do something wrong, then say, "That's kinda cool, yeah try it again!" you should step in their and say, "You know, cutting off your hand definitely DOESN'T sound cool!" Protect them, if you truly care about them, from everyone including themselves.
It always protects,
^Just as said above^
always trusts,
That doesn't mean you should trust everyone. Love always trusts, which means if you truly love them, that means you trust them. A good way to think about this is, if you trust them, you might one day love them. That doesn't mean "If you love them, you should trust them, and you should love everyone, so trust everyone". You should love ON everyone, but that doesn't mean give you heart away. Protect your heart, and keep it near to you where it is safe. Give it to those you trust, which will be the ones you love. Understood a little better now?
always hopes,
You long for them. Not in contradiction with the "long for their love" but you enjoy them so you want to have that fellowship with them, however not NEEDED, just hoped for.
always perseveres.
Never quit. Always love on them. This is one I will admit to personally struggling with. I have sometimes a hard time trying really hard to keep working with people, and continue persuing them, but I remember this one, and I am told to always love them, and always care for them, and always be their for them, and do my best to bring out the est in them, and bring out whatever makes them stronger, and smarter, and wiser, and safer, and everything I can, with all my power, and with everything I have, until I have nothing left, its my job to make sure they are loved, and that they will always be loved, by me.
If you find anything in here you disagree with, please contact me. I am not going to "set you strait" but I will do my best to answer any questions you have. Please feel free to hit me up on my email, or right here on LJ to the few of you who still use this. If you feel more comfortable emailing me, thats fine, you should have my email address, if not just send me a message here, and I'll send it to your livejournal, but overall I hope you learned what I believe love is. I am representing myself, and myself alone. I wont say this is what the "Christians" believe, because their are so many different types of Christians, with so many different ways of believing things, that I can't represent them. I can only say that this is my belief of love, and I do my best to live up to it. If you see me make mistakes, just remember I am human, and all I can do is my best, and continue to try and improve day by day, so that I can become a better and stronger individual. Thank you for reading, and I hope you took something great out of this you can use to show love towards others the way I believe it was intended.
-Matt
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
I really wanted to stand up for this one. Their is something that is just so true to the Christian faith that you can't deny, and that is that the greatest commandment of all: LOVE
Matthew 22:36-40
"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
We are first to love our Lord, then to love everyone else. I really want to pick at this and please, please, PLEASE if you find anything wrong with this, or anything you disagree with at all, PLEASE ask questions, I really want this to be clear, whether your a Christian or not, I think this is important for us all...
Love is patient,
What is patience? I believe it is best portrayed as the ability to handle waiting without getting heated/upset/hot-headed/"you-name-it". We should never rush anyone into or out of situations. If anyone falls behind either let them go at their own pace, or you need to help them to get to where they need to be. Figuratively and litterally, if someone is having trouble in an area in their life, help them out! Build them up and teach them how to improve themselves.
love is kind.
Kindness, is the quality of being warmhearted. Be considerate of others, and, for you men, be a gentlemen! Hold the door open for her! It doesn't have to be your girlfriend, this applies to everyone. Help your parents with some yard-work/dishes. Offer yourselves to help them out.
It does not envy,
Keyword here is NOT. It doesn't envy. This is because envy is more of a "jealous" type of admire. You love them so much, you want what they have. You should in fact love them with admiring them and adoring them. This means be happy for them, and be proud of them, so that they can be seen for the good qualities they have, and be remembered for them!
it does not boast,
Why would you show off your love, you shouldn't brag about your "ability to love" or how "you love them more". Love can't be measured, no such thing as a "love-o-meter" besides the thing you put $1 into and it gives you some random numbers. You are called to love and love only.
it is not proud.
Love isn't proud, pretty much the same thing said above. Don't be arrogant about it, you should be happy with the love you have for one another.
It is not rude,
I know this is a no brainer, but you would be surprised with how neglected this one can be. Lets say you are in a fight, which means you were rude probably in the first place, should you just sit their and stare at each other? Would you consider that polite? If you dad said, "What did you do today?" and you just stared at them, do you think they would say, "Hmmmm, how polite!" (But not sarcastically, because I know that can happen with a sarcastic attitude, which is rude by the way). Which reminds me. If your into rhyming, Having an attitude, is rude!. Totally just made that one up right here before you guys :-P, lol. But back to seriousness, could you imagine that if you were feeling bad, but you didn't want to talk about it? If you tell them that, they have many opportunities to be rude now. They could either just stop talking, and sit and try and think of what they did wrong to make you feel that way (I have done it a lot, I have been clean of that disease for some time now :-P) or they could even start nagging you about what it could possibly be. If you really didn't want to talk about it, and you were being serious, then they should just say to themselves, "You know, my friend is feeling pretty down right now, what can I do to make them feel better?" It's such an amazing remedy to have a real friend make you feel better after your down and blue.
it is not self-seeking,
If you are loving, you should be doing so because you want them to feel that security and happiness, and all those other qualities of love. You shouldn't love others, so that they can love you in return. Here is a scenerio for you. You have been loving on this person for a long time, and they started loving you back, but now they have a cool best friend which they are now pouring their love into them, but they aren't loving you too much now that they have that friend. Would it be appropriate to get mad at them for not showing that same love and adoration that you had for them, to you? If you had been loving them all that time just so they will love you back, that could potentially hurt you both. You could get mad at them, and probably come up with excuses why your mad at them, when the real reason is you feel like you wasted all that time loving them, when really you could have helped them feel accepted enough to hang out with this new person, because you loved and accepted them. By loving someone, and just being their for them, and giving them that "I am wanted, I am loved" feeling, you can do magic with that. You can do some great things to a person, but if you love them for the wrong reasons, you might have just started a timer on a bomb.
Here is another situation. This one is a little easier. Don't be nice to someone because they have something you want, and so you love them so you can get what they have.
it is not easily angered,
Very similar to what was said in the VERY beginning about patience.
it keeps no record of wrongs.
No grudges, or you will end up just like the grudge. JK. You can change whenever you want. You can't change anything about the past. You can do nothing about yesterday. Today is your fresh start at your new life. Always keep that in mind with yourself, and with others. Anyone can change at anytime they see fit. Don't hold things against them that they did months/years/days ago. Keep in mind though, if they are in the process of doing something wrong, don't just sit around and watch them self-destroy themselves, tell them about it, if you truly care about them! You don't want to see them get hurt!
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
Be happy when they do good. Encourage them to do better. This is what makes us grow and mature and become stronger with one another. Because we can make each other better and joyful. Don't watch them do something wrong, then say, "That's kinda cool, yeah try it again!" you should step in their and say, "You know, cutting off your hand definitely DOESN'T sound cool!" Protect them, if you truly care about them, from everyone including themselves.
It always protects,
^Just as said above^
always trusts,
That doesn't mean you should trust everyone. Love always trusts, which means if you truly love them, that means you trust them. A good way to think about this is, if you trust them, you might one day love them. That doesn't mean "If you love them, you should trust them, and you should love everyone, so trust everyone". You should love ON everyone, but that doesn't mean give you heart away. Protect your heart, and keep it near to you where it is safe. Give it to those you trust, which will be the ones you love. Understood a little better now?
always hopes,
You long for them. Not in contradiction with the "long for their love" but you enjoy them so you want to have that fellowship with them, however not NEEDED, just hoped for.
always perseveres.
Never quit. Always love on them. This is one I will admit to personally struggling with. I have sometimes a hard time trying really hard to keep working with people, and continue persuing them, but I remember this one, and I am told to always love them, and always care for them, and always be their for them, and do my best to bring out the est in them, and bring out whatever makes them stronger, and smarter, and wiser, and safer, and everything I can, with all my power, and with everything I have, until I have nothing left, its my job to make sure they are loved, and that they will always be loved, by me.
If you find anything in here you disagree with, please contact me. I am not going to "set you strait" but I will do my best to answer any questions you have. Please feel free to hit me up on my email, or right here on LJ to the few of you who still use this. If you feel more comfortable emailing me, thats fine, you should have my email address, if not just send me a message here, and I'll send it to your livejournal, but overall I hope you learned what I believe love is. I am representing myself, and myself alone. I wont say this is what the "Christians" believe, because their are so many different types of Christians, with so many different ways of believing things, that I can't represent them. I can only say that this is my belief of love, and I do my best to live up to it. If you see me make mistakes, just remember I am human, and all I can do is my best, and continue to try and improve day by day, so that I can become a better and stronger individual. Thank you for reading, and I hope you took something great out of this you can use to show love towards others the way I believe it was intended.
-Matt