FOUR (4) QUESTIONS ABOUT LOVE - How To Recognize Love - Part X

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

1. How can we have within us a more than human love for others ?

A more than human love is wakened in the soul, through the knowledge of the wonderful love of Christ “the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.” (Romans 5:5, Philippians 2:5) - Only through receiving the Holy Spirit is it possible to have more than just human love for other human beings. Human love is changeable - divine love, God's marvelous love never changes...

2. How can love for our fellow man become a natural instinct ?

Looking unto Jesus we obtain brighter and more distinct views of God, and by beholding we become changed. Goodness, love for our fellow men, becomes our natural instinct. By beholding Christ we become changed into His image and reflect His character. (2 Corinthians 3:18, Philippians 2:13, John 6:56, Ephesians 2:10)

3. What are the characteristics of heavenly love ?

When the heavenly principle of eternal love fills the heart, it will flow out to others, not merely because favors are received of them, but because love is the principle of action, and modifies the character, governs the impulses, controls the passions, subdues enmity, and elevates the affections. (1 John 4:20, 1 John 2:10, Galatians 5:22-24)

Heaven‑born love strikes deeper than the surface. (John 17:23, Ephesians 3:18,19/Romans 8:25, 38,39/2 Corinthians 5:14)

4. What is the source of anything good or beautiful that we see in others which makes them attractive to us ?

God is the author of all beauty. Man has nothing in himself. The most exalted talent does not originate from man, but is the endowment of his Creator. We are indebted to God for all the qualities of the mind. All the good qualities that men possess are the gift of God. ...there is no true goodness or greatness apart from God. All that we have, all that we are, all that we can do, is God's; it belongs to him; therefore when we give the best and all there is of us, it is only that which belongs to God. All the value that there is in any human being is from Christ, and all belongs to Him. In the One "altogether lovely" we behold Him, of whom all beauty of earth and heaven is but a dim reflection. There is no real beauty of person or of character out of Christ..Christ is the source of every right impulse Every brilliant conception, every thought of wisdom, every capacity and talent of men, is the gift of Christ.. Whatever great ideas man may have evolved, have come through Christ. Every precious gem of thought, every flash of the intellect, is revealed by the Light of the world. Every ability, every power, is received from God. The human agent can originate nothing. No one has anything beyond that which God gives him. “For who maketh thee to differ from another and what hast thou that thou didst not receive ? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it ? (1 Corinthians 4:7) and (John 3:27) For all that we have and are, we are indebted to God. God is the author of all wisdom, all intelligence, all talent. God is the author of all that is good.

It is some aspect of the character of CHRIST that human beings long for and are attracted to in each other. Anything good or beautiful which we find appealing in another human being whether man or woman or child has its origin in the CREATOR. While human beings may feel the legitimate need for each other, and can even validate each other to some degree, their deepest needs and longings for happiness can only be satisfied by the ONE who created them.

By the grace of God, we will continue to study these things in another post.

T.K.

© 2009 Tyrone Keels

www.issues-of-life.com

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