THE CHRISTIAN LIFE. LOVE

This trimester we'll have a conversation around the CHRISTIAN LIFE We want to look at both aspects of our faith: doctrine and experience.

The role of experience never should take away from the importance of correct biblical teaching.It's the TRUTH"the truth as it is in Jesus."

LET'S WALK THE WALK

Saturday.LOVE. Isaiah 53, Matt. 22:37-39, 1 Corinthians 13, 1 John 3 and 1 John 4.
http://www.ssnet.org/qrtrly/eng/09b/less01.html

"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love" (1 Corinthians 13:13, NIV).

1 Corinthians 13: 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

The Greek philosopher Sophocles said, “One word frees us of all the weight and pain of life. That word is love.”

God is love. Whatever else God is, and whatever He has done, is doing, and will do—everything is a manifestation of His love.

This love is as comforting as it is difficult to comprehend. God’s love far exceeds what human beings usually label as love.

Sunday.LOVE, THE FABRIC OF LIFE. In order to live in any real sense of the word, we also need love. Life without love is a subhuman kind of existence. There is a built-in need in us to receive love.

We need the love of parents. We need the love of family and friends. We need to be part of a loving community.

But just as much as we need to receive love, we also need to give love. We are not truly human if we cannot love.

But let’s be clear: True love does not begin with us. The capacity for love is created in us by our Creator.

Genesis 1: 26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, [a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground."

John 3: 16"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

Matthew 22: 37Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'[a] 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'

1 Corinthians 13 Love 1If I speak in the tongues[a] of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.

2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

3If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames,[b] but have not love, I gain nothing.

1 John 3:14We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death

God’s love always precedes our love. Whatever else we say about love, this point is crucial.

True “love is not an impulse, but a divine principle, a permanent power. The unconsecrated heart cannot originate or produce it.

Only in the heart where Jesus reigns is it found. ‘We love him, because he first loved us.’ [1 John 4:19].

In the heart renewed by divine grace, love is the ruling principle of action.”—Ellen G. White, The Acts of the Apostles, p. 551.

The famous British author C. S. Lewis uses the terms “Gift-love” and “Need-Love” to differentiate between God’s love and human forms of love.

While God wants our love more than anything else, He does not need our love in the same way in which we need love from Him and from fellow human beings.

“We [must] begin at the real beginning, with love as the Divine energy. This primal love is Gift-love. In God there is no hunger that needs to be filled, only plenteousness that desires to give.”—C. S. Lewis, The Four Loves (London: HarperCollins, 1998), p. 121.

Our human love needs to be transformed by divine love, so that—--while we will continue to yearn for love from others—we will be able to give love in a truly Christlike manner.

How can we better manifest God’s love in our own lives?

Such beautiful Love:) May God fill your lives with love, so much love, that it overflows in the life of others. May you be a blessing to all

Monday.THE OLD TESTAMENT GOD. A GOD OF LOVE. It is often said that God’s love is clearly manifested only in the New Testament, while the “Old Testament God” is a God of justice and wrath. But careful study of the entire Bible shows that God does not have such a split personality.

Though God’s love was manifested in the fullest measure in Christ (as portrayed in the New Testament), the God of Old Testament times is just as much a God of supreme love. God does not change (James 1:17).

He does not gradually evolve from a God of wrath or a God of justice into a God of love. God’s love is eternal. The words to His Old Testament people apply to all times: “ ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love’ ” (Jer. 31:3, NIV).

# God’s love in creation (Gen. 1:26–31, 2:21–25).
# Providing a solution for the sin problem (Gen. 3:15, 22:8, Isaiah 53).
# The gift of the Sabbath (Exod. 31:12–17).
# The continuous gift of prophecy (Amos 3:7).

It is true that we read about bloodshed and war. But never forget that God is consistently portrayed as the covenant God, who draws people to Himself and does not forsake them, in spite of the fact that they turn their backs on Him time and again.

Tuesday.THE NEW TESTAMENT GOD. A GOD OF LOVE. In His infinite wisdom God devised a plan to deal with the predicament of sin in the best possible way.

Being a holy God, He could not overlook the rebellion against His perfect law; being love, He could not stand back and let His creatures perish without doing His utmost to save them.

"God's holiness is his majestic purity that cannot tolerate moral evil. God's love is his outgoing, tenderhearted embrace of the sinner.

God's holiness is his separateness from what is unclean and profane. God's love is his willingness to identify with those who are unclean in order to help them. . . .

[But] God's wrath is provisional whereas his love is eternal."—Donald G. Bloesch, God the Almighty: Power, Wisdom, Holiness, Love (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1995), pp. 140-143.

2 Peter 3: 13Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

1 John 3: 1Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.

2Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

3And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

THIS SUMMARIZE IT ALL FOR THE REST OF THE DAYS OF THE WEEK

1 Corinthians 13

Love

1If I speak in the tongues[a] of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames,[b] but have not love, I gain nothing.

4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

THE QUALITIES OF LOVE

a) Positive qualities

 LOVE IS PATIENT (13.4)
Macrothumei = "patient", which corresponds to the term "slow to anger "of the Old Testament. Alphonse Maillot prefers the translation "love takes patience." This is not an innate virtue. It is a way of listening and watching others. It is
The father who awaits the prodigal son and refuses to believe that the
boy will never return.

LOVE is helpful (13.4)
Chresteuetaï = 'helpful', 'willing to help or attend. The term describes the situation of one who is animated by the Spirit of God, and shows its sensitivity towards those who are crossing difficulties.

It enjoys the TRUTH (13.6)
Literally: "he found his joy with the truth"(2 John 4, John 3 3.4). Here the truth is opposed to unfairness and represents virtue, justice and goodness. Love is primarily aimed at the advancement of truth and happiness of man (Phil 1.14-18).

It forgives ALL (13.7)
Panta stegei = "it covers everything". Love is forgiving and does not ever keep pointing to the fault of another.


IT BELIEVES ALL (13.7)
Panta pisteuei = "believes it all." This does not mean that those who love their neighbor are credulous to the point of absurdity. Paul wants to say here that by love the believer is prepared to deal with others without prejudice and without bias.

Hopes all things (13.7)
Panta elpizei = "hopes all things." Whatever the difficulties, and whatever the reasons to doubt the sincerity of
others, love continues to hope that things will change in the right direction.
Chr life. 1 - 3 Michel Mayeur

It supports all (13.7)
Panta upomenei = "it supports all. Alphonse Maillot says: "It must first think about the love God has for us: the Divine stubbornness, which from the beginning, supports us and we resist His impatience. And he knows that one day will come when, instead of, we will access to the stubbornness of love "
(The Church in the present, p. 232).

b) The negative qualities that are not of Love.

To the jealousy of the Corinthians (3.3), to their pride (3.21, 4.7, 5.6) at their unacceptable behavior (5.1,2; 6.12-20, 11.3-15), their egocentrism (10.24), Paul opposes a strong love:

IT IS NOT envious (13.4)
= Zèloï or "it does not get jealous." Some translate "it is not fanatical, overzealous. " Today there are still fanatics who believe in truth but are determined to compel others to share their views. They believe they share the "Jealousy" of God.

LOVE does not brag(13.4)
Or perpeseutaï = "does not seek its own glory." Paul wants to emphasize here that love is something serious and that authenticity needs to be effective.

IT DOES NOT swell up with pride (13.4)
Or phusioutaï = "it did not inflate." The apostle insists here on the sense of self-satisfaction that often marks those who are
aware of their superiority (8.1).

IT DOES NOTHING DISHONEST (13.5)
Ouk aschemonei = "there is no lack propriety," it does not behave in a dishonorable way. " In the Greek version (LXX) this word means to"be naked" (Ez 16.7,22). Love is never uncivil, brutal and never offends the sensitivity of others.

IT DOES NOT LOOK FOR ITS OWN INTERESTS ONLY(13.5)
Literally: "it does not seek its benefits."

IT DOES NOT GET irritated (13.5)
Or paroxunétaï = "it is not irritable." The term means a violent anger that can destroy.

IT DOES NOT MEDITATE EVIL (13.5)
Another possible translation: "It does not take account of evil," it does not frame evil. "

IT DOES NOT ENJOY OF INJUSTICE (13.6)
LITERALLY: "THERE IS NO PLEASURE IN INJUSTICE." THIS LAST TERM DESCRIBES ANYTHING THAT IS FOREIGN TO THE