2018.04.18 - Love And Ownership

2018.04.18 - Love & Ownership

Wednesday, April 18, 2018

1:05 PM

1 John 3:18My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.KJV

I love my God.  I love my wife.  I love my dog.  I love my truck.

How can we use the same word to express our thoughts on so varied a target?  I do love God.  I do love my wife.  But the "feelings' for my dog and my truck are quite different.  I love my dog.  She is a good dog and behaves (most of the time) but if she suddenly just chose to lose her mind and start to bite me each time I reached out to pet her, or tear up all of my things and just be awful, I am not sure that I would each day CHOOSE to still love her.  It would hurt me to get rid of her, to not have her in my life, but my emotional response to her is based on how she responds to me.  I OWN her, she belongs to me, she is my property.  My love for her then, is somewhat conditional.  Under the right conditions I lavish her with praises and treats and belly rubs.  Different conditions may prompt a post on craiglist something about needing a good home . . .

I love my wife . . .I am in love with her after 20+ years of marriage.  I CHOOSE to love her daily, and I must say that it is an easy choice.  My love for her is deep and I pray unconditional.  Sometimes we disagree, even argue at times and maybe even not like what each other is doing at the present time, but she loves me and I love her. Marriage for many has come to mean "I give you my love as long as certain conditions are met" just like me and my dog, but that denotes something entirely different than love, that speaks of ownership.  You give me something I want, something I need and in return I will "love" you. That is not the kind of love Christ has for us, nor the kind of love God wants us to share with others, especially our spouses.

1.    The Trademark Of The Church 

a.    John 13:35By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples , if ye have love one to another.KJV

2.    Love The Right Way

a.    1 John 4:7Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. 

8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love . 9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. 10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.KJV

3.    Love Defined

a.    Charity in1Corinthians 13

                              i.        NT:26 agape (ag-ah'-pay); from NT:25; love, i.e. affection or benevolence; specially (plural) a love-feast: KJV - (feast of) charity ([-ably]), dear, love.

1.    NT:25 agapao (ag-ap-ah'-o); perhaps from agan (much) [or compare OT:5689]; to love (in a social or moral sense): KJV - (be-) love (-ed). Compare NT:5368.