Love

LOVE
n.
1. A deep, tender, ineffable feeling of affection and solicitude toward a person, such as that arising from kinship, recognition of attractive qualities, or a sense of underlying oneness.
2. A feeling of intense desire and attraction toward a person with whom one is disposed to make a pair; the emotion of sex and romance
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I feel this is meant to be read today as I had planned to blog about Faith, Hope, and Love in that order. As I opened my Bible today, in the upper left hand corner, the Book, Chapter, and verse showed John 3:15....how coincidental right? As anyone who has ever read the Bible knows one of the earliest memorized verse for any of us is John 3:16. For God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life! What a message that is. To know all we have to do to spend eternity with God in Heaven is to believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior! The simple words above cannot begin to convey the emotions God has for us as His children.

Leviticus 19:18 says "You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people,But you shall love your neighbor as yourself, I AM the Lord."

Proverbs 10:12 "Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all sins." In other words if we respond in love to each other, it covers up sins or offenses that would otherwise come between us.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 " 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."

In the original text Paul chose a more rare form of the word meaning love in Greek which was agape which basically translates to a love based on the deliberate choice of the one who loves and not the worthiness of the one being loved. This goes against natural human inclination and steps up to a selfless, giving, expect-nothing-in-return type of love. Very strong words indeed as it is very hard to love someone or something and not expect anything in return.TRUE love puts up with people who would be easier to give up on. If we truly love another we will set aside our own plans, our own life in order to please that person. Love is not blind. We can love completely without naivete. Its hard to comprehend but we can do it.We may notice the failures and shortcomings of ones we love but we dont give up on the possibilities of what they might become. Love never gives up knowing God can change anyone at anytime.Love accepts any hardship or rejection. Love endures ALL.

1 Corinthians 13:13 is an all time favorite and a very oft times quoted verse. "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."

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Once a man has won a woman's love, the love is his forever. He can only lose the woman. ~Robert Brault
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