And how does it affect me in day-to-day living?
When a child is first born, the child is a helpless, innocent, little person, but will change as time goes on. As children grow and become more mature, they stop being so innocent as they end up dealing with more sin day after day. Through young stages in life they start to lie, steal, and are disrespectful. All children go through these stages and they understand that these are a sin, due to what it says in the Bible. What many may not know is that we have been commanded to love one another as brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers, and treat everyone with complete purity as if truly part of our own family.
(I Timothy 5:1-2)
The Bible shows us examples of Love many times, the best being John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that he gave�" God gave His Son for us, because He knew our need of a Savior. Daily He provides our needs, giving us all we require. Since He made us and all that exists, was made by Him. It is clear that we need Him, but He does not need us. There is nothing that we can do for God; that he could not accomplish in Himself. He does allow us to do things for Him, so that we would have no choice but rely on Him or fail. Through this, God receives glory. It is only through His strength that we can accomplish what He has asked for us to do, and not of ourselves, lest we think God needs us. Though we are worthless sinners, God LOVED us so much that He gave us His Son so that we might reject Him, spit on Him, beat Him, mock Him, and release a murderer, yet crucify the One that never sinned. All this so that through the payment of our sins, we might be able to accept the shed blood and be spared from the pending judgment that God must give because He is just.
In II Samuel 9:4 and 7, we can read another story of the power of love. Verse 4 talks of someone living in Lo-Debar, which means, "Land of no pasture". Lo-Debar was a barren wasteland, and all living there were poor, owning nothing of worth, because it had no fields and bad soil. No crops could be grown, no animals raised, it was a piece of worthless land, where a crippled grandson of the previous king lived. The same king, Saul, that tried to kill David, who was now king. This young man living in Lo-Debar was named Mephibosheth. Though David had not known of this young man before, he had loved Jonathan, Mephibosheth's father, and wished to show kindness to anyone left of Jonathan's line, for Jonathan had been killed in battle. David called for him to be brought, and gave him great wealth, and had him eat at his own table. Mephibosheth had nothing to give, but David loved Jonathan, and because of this love for Jonathan, Mephibosheth became as one of David's own son. David gave to Mephibosheth, even though he knew, Mephibosheth could not give anything back.
Love is not what you can get out of a relationship, it's what you can give. A relationship does not necessarily mean a romantic one, but contact with a friend, family, or anyone you know. Love is an effect of the Holy Spirit in us, and ought to be studied. I Corinthians 13 would be a good place to start, because it will give you a realization of how important God is in your relationships, for He is the creator of Love and that without God, you cannot truly love each other. I Corinthians 13:13 after talking of knowledge, tongues, and prophecies, all coming to an end, states that we will be left with faith, hope, and love, and the greatest of these is love. Love will never end, and is the greatest, most important fruit of the spirit, which only comes through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in Christians, and is also the basis of Christianity. When Jesus was asked what was the most important law, He stated two rules combined, which both include love, "Love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and love thy neighbor as thyself."
What is Real Love (Continued)