Love is the very nature and character of God. It is so special that even the bible tells us God is Love and he who abides in love, abides in God and God in him. (1John 4:16)
It is a deliberate decision to care affectionately and be there for someone and it is deeper and richer than what humanity truly knows.
True love originates from God and never ends. It involves discipline, respect, rebuke, reprove, commendations and so on as occasions or situations demand.
It is classified into 3 namely:-
1. Agape
2. Eros
3. Phileo
AGAPE
This is the Hebrew word for love and it means to indicate a direction of the will and finding one’s joy in something.
Agape is used to describe God’s love towards man and vice versa. It is also called charity, a benevolent love. Its benevolence is not shown by doing what the person loved desires but what the one who loves deems as needed by the one loved. (1 Corinthians 13)
The perfect example of Agape is the love , God has for us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for our salvation. God knew perfectly well what we were lacking, the great judgment looming over our heads and made adequate provision through The blood of Jesus for us.
Accepting this love of God is allowing God to reproduce it in us. Human beings are also capable of manifesting agape when they have accepted Jesus, the ultimate sacrifice of God’s love into their lives.
God’s kind of love never dies. In spite of our sins, His loving kindness and tender mercies are new every morning in readiness to forgive us as we lovingly respond to it.
We may face the consequences of our sins but it is never because God loves us less or does not love us at all. In fact, His love restrains us from sins but will never compel us against our will. Yes, God created us but gave each and every one of us the power of choice. This is an act of His benevolent love.
When we choose to love and serve Him and Him alone, we align ourselves to His will.
God’s love plays a major role in reconciling the world (sinners) to Himself.
EROS
This is the sexual or physical love between a man and a woman as nicely explained in Genesis. Even animals are not left out in this physical love. The primary reason for it is procreation. It is through Eros that the world population has reached almost 8 billion today.
However, to our amazement, Eros has been misunderstood and bastardized. It was never God’s intention to have under age boys and girls go into this intimate, passionate affection before marriage. If it were, Adam would have been a teen boy, not a fully grown MAN and Eve an immature girl and not a fully grown WOMAN. (NOT TO EVEN MENTION THE ABOMINATION OF ADAM AND STEVE , EVE AND EVA)
His intention for this sexual love is intimacy, companionship, emotional stability and the ability to raise at the time in holy matrimony, godly offsprings who will extend the legacy of righteousness to the next generation . Please, remember, anything outside His will is very dangerous, thus have grievous consequences.
If you are already violating His will, there is heope for you now, as you retrace your steps and truly repent asking for His forgiveness. He loves you so much and will never allow you perish in your sins. He is ever merciful.
PHILEO
This is brotherly love. The love that exists in families, among friends and so on. God expects the whole of humanity to manifest this love. Colour, race, religion, church denomination, belief, tongue or tribe ought not to negatively affect Phileo.
This was the love between David and Jonathan that even in the face of danger, their souls were knit together. (1Samuel 18:1-3)
In closing, Jesus said “By this shall men know that you are disciples if you love one another.”
1John 4:7-11 read “Beloved, let us love one another : for love is of God and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
He who does not love, does not know God; for God is Love.
In this was manifested the love of God towards us, that God has sent His only begotten son into the world, that we might live through Him.
In this is love, not that we loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be a propritiation for our sins.
Beloved, if God so loved, we also ought to love one another.”
Children of God, it is time to love one another like never before. Let’s stop all the bickerings, schisms, hate, hypocrisy, laying aside the sins that easily beset us.
1 John 3: 10 -15 read, “In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteous is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.
For this is the message that you heard from the beginning , that we should love one another,
nor as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous.
Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you.
We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death.
Whoever hates his brother is a murderer and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him”
The world sitting in darkness is waiting to see our light.
Love will rapture God’s people. Without love, it is impossible to make Heaven.
God bless you all.
