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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | What is your definition of love? | John 13:34 | EdB | 128295 | ||
Xerxes I agree I have been a little defensive but it was your approach to me that put me in that position. If it was unintentional on your part then I apologize. Back to what your saying your definition of Agapao "A Concise Greek-English Dictionary of the New Testament]: agapao: love (primarily of Christian love); show or prove one’s love; long for, desire, place first in one’s affections. [An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon]: agapao, f. eso: pf. egapeka: Ep. aor. 1 agapesa: (agape): I. of persons, to treat with affection, to caress, love, be fond of, c. acc., Att. for agapazo, Plato, etc.:—Pass. to be beloved, Id., Demosthenes. 2. in N.T. to regard with brotherly love, v. agape. II. of things, to be well pleased or contented at or with a thing, c. dat., Demosthenes, etc.:—also c. acc. rei, Id.:—absol. to be content, Lucian:—ag. oti. ., ei. ., ean. ., to be well pleased that. . Thucydides, etc." Notice in both of these they use the words like 'show', 'prove', 'treat', 'caress', contented', 'well pleased' to express the meaning of Agapao. These are actions or verbs if you will and I believe make my point. To me in the deepest sense of the word, love is still the motivator behind the action. I can say I love chocolate and I do :-) However nothing happens, nothing is accomplished. It is more or less a statement of fact nothign more nothing less. However if I let my love for chocolate make me reach into the bag and take one out then my love for chocolate becomes the motivator of my action. Something took place. One of the problems of Christianity today is we want to keep it in a philosophical discussion. Mince words and debate ideas and theology. Christianity is action. If we love Jesus we will tell the world about Him. If we love our neighbor we will share our coat with him. Once again I come back to 1 John 3:18 EdB |
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2 | What is your definition of love? | John 13:34 | Xerxes | 128320 | ||
EdB, Hey, I'm sure it was unintentional on both sides. If you can apologize, so can I. I have a propensity for being harsh now and again without meaning to. I have four boys 6-10, so ... In any case, it would seem to me that we are in agreement to an extent. Use your chocolate example. You can tell someone you love chocolate, but if you never eat it, they may have reason to doubt it after a while, just as we can claim to be Christians, but if they don't see the love that Jesus said would identify us as his disciples, sooner or later they will doubt us and view us as liars or hypocrites. If, on the other hand, you tell no one that you love chocolate, but everyone you know sees you eating chocolate constantly, they will eventually believe that you love chocolate whether you tell them or not. This is the same as Christianity again, because if we love each other in deed, we need not tell anyone how much we love. They will see it and know it to be so without us having to say a word. Now, taking it to the next level, I'm not so sure I see it as a philosophy. If we are actively loving in deed, meaning that we are actively practicing the virtue of being kind, temperate, charitable, patient, joyful, exhortant, forgiving, humble, hating evil, loving righteousness, etc., then we will be unable to do those things that are contrary to God. For example, how can we kill someone we are trying to love? We wouldn't want someone to do that to us, so to actively love our neighbor as ourselves, we won't kill them. Nor will we steal from them, lay with their spouse, etc. I believe you covered these in one of your posts already. But on an even more obscure level, consider not rendering evil for evil, but good for evil. To actively practive love is to be forgiving, so we offer the other cheek instead of striking back. If someone sues us for our cloak, we exercise the active attitude of love in giving to them as they have need. If someone asks you to go with them a mile, go with them two, because they wouldn't have asked the one if they didn't need help ... so to go with them beyond what they requested is a loving attitude in practical application. This, I believe, is what Stultis was getting at. As stated in Romans 13, love (the active practice of doing those things that are indicative of a loving attitude) is the fulfillment of the law, does no harm to another, and all the commandments are summed up by it. So to answer his question in truth, what commands do we have that have nothing to do with love? I would have to say, "none." Every command I see, whether going to church or giving tithes, humbling yourself or being forgiving ... they are all products of an active loving attitude. To quote John, "If a man loves his brother he walks in the light and there is no occasion of stumbling in him." I would even go so far as to say that if you are actively practicing love, I really can't see any reason why we should ever stumble, fall, or sin. Your thoughts? Xerxes |
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