WHAT IS LOVE?
We find ourselves today asking the question, “what does LOVE really mean”? When asked this question, many will give their own definition of what they believe love means. Each individual has their own understanding of love according to what they feel. Unfortunately the true understanding of love has been lost for many decades. When we find ourselves interpreting the meaning of love according to FEELINGS we will always DEFEND our perspective of what the TRUE meaning of love is.
When we allow our feelings to dictate to us what love is, we then follow our feelings rather than what our Creator describes as TRUE LOVE. As a result of not understanding the word LOVE, many will walk down the path of deception and thereby discover that they have failed in their quest to fulfill what they perceive as love.
Love involves more than a FEELING. Love is a commitment to the OBJECT of love. Many believe that when the feeling of love is not found, they will lose hope of ever finding that PERFECT object!
Let’s take a look at what TRUE love is. To do this we must look to the AUTHOR of LOVE!
1John 4:8 He that loveth not knoweth not Yah (God); for Yah (God) is love.
God, has a name! His Name is Yahuah!
The first question we may ask someone we meet is,” What is your name”? This is the first step of a relationship. How can we love someone without knowing their name? Their name is connected with their character. Your name is your IDENTITY! Often times there have been things said about a person that are not true but if you know that person intimately, you can tell it is not true because you KNOW that person!
How can we love someone we don’t know? It takes a RELATIONSHIP to know someone. We need to know that persons character before we truly can say we love them. In today’s society the word LOVE can be used for our favorite color, food, music, etc. We use the term love for whatever we happen to like. This however is NOT the meaning of the word!
We understand that YAHUAH (GOD), is LOVE! Love is who he is, NOT just a feeling. We are so used to using the word love loosely, that we have no concept of what LOVE is, or who Yahuah (GOD) is!
1John 4:16 And we have known and believed the love that Yahuah (God) hath to us. Yah (God) is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in Yahuah (God), and Yahuah (God) in him.
Love is a DEMONSTRATION of character, it is who you are. If we truly love than we will demonstrate that love REGARDLESS of FEELING!
In marriage, we find many times that the feeling of love is not present. So does that mean we don’t love our spouse because I don’t feel love at the moment? NO, of course not! This is why there are so much divorce and remarriage taking place today. When the FEELING of Love, as we perceive it, is not felt, then we fall victim to what we perceive as love to be over or gone.
That old song “What’s love got to do with it” has convinced many that love is just a passing fancy. How very sad! Love is not a feeling, it is a choice! When we think of how much Yahuah loves us, even while we were yet in sin, it truly shows us that HE didn’t choose us because of a feeling of love but by his Character, HE IS LOVE!
Romans 5:8 But Yah (God) commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Hamashiach (Christ), died for us.
We don’t deserve his love, but because of who he is, LOVE, even while we were dead in our sins he loved us and gave his Son to die in our place. WHAT KIND OF LOVE IS THAT? That he would give his ALL for those that don’t even have an understanding of the word LOVE!
Now how do we LOVE HIM?
Great question! Here is the answer!
John 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
John 15:10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.
Wow, did you get that? Oh, but I thought that if I go to Church and pay my tithes that surely Yahuah (God) will notice my good works and that is how I love him.
Exodus 20:1 And Elohiym (God) spake all these words, saying,
Exodus 20:2 I am Yahuah (the LORD) thy Elohayka (God), which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
Exodus 20:3 Thou shalt have no other elohiym (gods) before me.
Exodus 20:4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
Exodus 20:5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I Yahuah (the LORD) thy Elohayka (God) am a jealous EL (God), visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
Exodus 20:6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
Exodus 20:7 Thou shalt not take the name of Yahuah (the LORD) thy Elohayka (God) in vain; for Yahuah (the LORD) will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
Exodus 20:8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Exodus 20:9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
Exodus 20:10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of Yahuah (the LORD) thy Elohayka (God): in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
Exodus 20:11 For in six days Yahuah (the LORD) made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore Yahuah (the LORD) blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
Exodus 20:12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which Yahuah (the LORD) thy Elohayka (God) giveth thee.
Exodus 20:13 Thou shalt not kill.
Exodus 20:14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Exodus 20:15 Thou shalt not steal.
Exodus 20:16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
Exodus 20:17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.
Wow! It is hard to find those today that even know that there are commandments that Yahuah gave to his people at Mount Sinai.
Many believe that the commandments have been done away with. How absurd!
Malachi 3:6 For I am Yahuah (the LORD), I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.
Hebrews 13:8 Yahusha Hamashiach (Jesus Christ) the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
If we believe that Yahuah changes then he would be no different than we are!! He is not a man that he should lie!
Numbers 23:19 El (God) is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?
He can be completely trusted! That is TRUE love! To know that he never changes is a comfort that HE does not rely on feelings toward us. Even when we mess up HE remains faithful as long as we repent. This fact alone compels us to love him and keep his commandments! He will never leave us or forsake us as long as we want a true love relationship with him.
BY:
John 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
Shalom!