What is Love?
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What is Love?
Jesus told us to “Love One Another”
The Greatest Commandment is to “Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, mind and strength, and your neighbor as yourself.”
And yet what does it mean to love?
PLEASE SHARE A STORY THAT YOU THINK SHOWS US WHAT LOVE IS
A woman told me that she could not stomach the word “love.” A man that repeatedly told her that he loved her also emotionally and physically abused her. Instead, whenever the Bible used the word “love,” she substituted the word “respect.” She felt like “respect” meant a lot more to her than the word “love.” I think this illustrates that words do not contain their meaning. Meaning is a social construction–it has to be shared by two or more people. This is why the dictionary has to be republished every year, with changes.
And this is why “love” is better defined by a story than by a definition.
So here is a story: Jesus showed God’s love to us in this, that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. For a good man, someone might dare to die. But God showed his love for us in this, that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
The gospel is a story. It shows us what love is. We can create a sentences that explain the story, such as: Love is choosing to suffer for someone so that that someone might benefit, might live, might not suffer. And this is a nice sentence. It’s a good definition, but the Mel Gibson movie “The Passion of Christ” tells the story with much more power and passion. A story is worth a thousand definitions.
SO PLEASE SHARE A STORY THAT YOU BELIEVE SHOWS US WHAT LOVE IS
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This discussion was modified 1 month, 2 weeks ago by
James Milley, Chief Catalyst.
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This discussion was modified 1 month, 2 weeks ago by James Milley, Chief Catalyst.
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This discussion was modified 1 month, 2 weeks ago by
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2 Replies
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<font style=”vertical-align: inherit;”><font style=”vertical-align: inherit;”>A woman who was married for more than 20 years; she understood love as a emotion. She experienced that feeling when she was a mom with her kids, but one day she lost the feeling of love for them and her family. She felt in love with another man; she decided to leave her kids and husband because she said that there was not emotional attachment. She left them and re married again and started a new family. </font></font>
<font style=”vertical-align: inherit;”><font style=”vertical-align: inherit;”><font style=”vertical-align: inherit;”><font style=”vertical-align: inherit;”>She had different concept of love, but her story of abandoning her husband and kids showed how love was totally opposite to sacrifice, loyalty and caring. </font></font></font></font>
<font style=”vertical-align: inherit;”><font style=”vertical-align: inherit;”><font style=”vertical-align: inherit;”><font style=”vertical-align: inherit;”><font style=”vertical-align: inherit;”><font style=”vertical-align: inherit;”>Saint Paul explained to the Greek community in Corinth that love is give themselves as an offering of love to show that love is a ethical value to create a strong relationship and bond with others but this love must be shared with responsibility, respect, sacrifice and loyalty. These ethical values are the foundation of a woman or man in order to create meaning in their lives. A person shows who really is with actions. It remains us that we have to do what we believed. </font></font></font></font></font></font>
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“A story is worth a thousand definitions,” true, but the inner emotional and even physical feeling when you are filled with love, love for and from God/goodness, love for/from another person, that’s worth a thousand stories.
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