Love – 2 Essential Things You Need to Know About Love

The word “LOVE” has been utterly misused.

Yes, love is a vital aspect of a joyful life. But what exactly is love? And how exactly can one truly express it?

Let’s find out the answers to these essential questions.

What Is Love?

Love is Christ’s culture—a lifestyle of acting in complete obedience to God.

In other words, the presence of God’s love in a place is far more than an emotional feeling between two or more people.

When love is present in a specific place, it implies that the people in that place completely obey God’s commandments.

Here are all the attributes you need to show people you genuinely love them:

Patience
Kindness (a caring attitude)
Not being envious (not resentfully desiring another person’s possession)
Never boasting about yourself. Instead, love boasts solely of Christ Jesus. In other words, you should show off Christ, not yourself. (Jeremiah 9:23-24)
Not being proud—that is, you must not uplift yourself above others. Instead, respect/cherish all. (John 13:13-17)
Always act politely and appropriately (decorously)
Seek God’s interest—don’t be self-seeking. (Matthew 7:21; John 4:34; John 6:38)
Be calm, refusing to be easily angered (provoked)
Think no evil. (Philippians 4:8)
Never be joyous in any wrongdoing, but always rejoice in the truth
Bear (take responsibility for) all things. (Romans 15:1-7; Galatians 6:1-5)
Believe all things
Be optimistic in all things
Tolerate (endure) all things
Never fail in whatever you have committed yourself to

Therefore, to love your neighbor (wife, husband, boss, child, enemy, sibling, and the like), you must:

Be patient with them.
Care for them.
Not resentfully (grudgingly) desire their possessions.
Not boast of yourself to them. Rather, boast of Christ to them.
Cherish them.
Act politely and appropriately towards them.
Relate with them based on God’s interest in them—not based on your interest in them.
Act calmly towards them.
Never think evil of them.
Never be joyous of their iniquities. Instead, be joyful of their truthful acts.
Bear all their infirmities.
Trust them.
Be optimistic concerning them.
Tolerate all things they do.
Never fail them in all things that please God.

Positive emotions like goodwill and the fear of God are an essential basis for love.

But you can never express love if you cannot express Christ’s culture—a lifestyle of embodying God. (Psalms 82:6)

In other words, true love is a persistent expression of Christ’s attributes toward all humanity—irrespective of how you feel.

Therefore, go forth to love truly by acting like Christ towards all. Shalom!