There are different kinds of relationships. Mother and Child, Man and Woman, Friend. As, explained in week 1 in this series that relates to Phileo Love. When you give birth to, become a father, or adopt a child, the child has not done anything to deserve your love but, you love this child, unconditionally. And this child loves you, unconditionally. When you chastise them they still love you. In everything you do or don’t do, they love you. So, it’s the same that your Father in heaven loves you. He sacrificed His only Son for you. This is the ultimate act of what love is. (John 3:16).
To give your greatest gift, to another; to regard them and their well being more than self. God had great regard for us, so He gave. When you freely give love without hesitation, without expectation, and without restriction, it can only be reciprocated (Luke 6:38).
There are
Acts of Love (John 3:16, John 15:13)-things that are done or given for another person
Gallant acts of Love, this is very over the top displays of feelings we equate with love. The gallantry of your actions. I call it the, “Knight in shining armor” syndrome. However when we put our loved ones on this horse (pedestal) and this person does anything that is not of the same caliber as the gallant acts previously shown; down from that horse they come. There is none save the Lord that should ever be put in that position. Why? Because as the scripture says, God is not man that He should lie (Numbers 23:19), I am Spirit and those who worship me must worship me in spirit and in truth (John 4:24). I who knew no sin wrapped myself in flesh (John 1:14a)
Shown Love (Romans 12:10); how you treat your spouse or anyone. It’s how you care. There’s a saying, “people care about people who care”
There’s proven Love (John 13:35) – over a period of time, based on your track record as it were
How do you love? How do you want to be loved? What if we first focus on the way God loves? Hmmm, we have explored how God loves us, and so I would like to pose a question; Do you love yourself like God loves you? If, not, we first have to work on that. How? By reading our bible, studying God’s Word so we can understand how he loves us, why He loves us? Now that we understand that how He loves, can we love ourselves like that?
Minister Lonnie Davis