Are you ready to study “Love” in a different angle? I recognize agape love well, but sometimes as a parent (love comes out all wrong) Yes, we love our children … But there is a greater LOVE to KNOW with understanding and Wisdom … and to miss step out of the right love can leave us feeling low or with guilt, BUT LOVE never fails when we seek Wisdom from God and simply pray!
Dear lord, I am so thankful that You love me unconditionally. Please chase away destructive thoughts that keep returning to take away my confidence in You and Your work in me. I want to rest in you and Your love –A prayer from Our Daily Bread, August 1, 2013
Psalm 59:16 is our Promise: God has been my defense and refuge in the day of my trouble.
Was I patient? humm NO
Was I kind? humm NO
Was I easily angered? humm yes
Why? Because of human love –and selfish ambition –and even fear –all of which oppose Godly Powerful & Pure Spiritual Love. We want to drive home the understanding that we know –to those we love … with our own little might … and in our high emotions, we can forget that we all must grow up in God’s knowledge in God’s Time & in God’s way!
I don’t know if any of this makes sense to share, but it is a start…and I don’t believe that i am the only parent that has felt like a failure at times, so I hope this is a blessing to someone Today, because maybe someone hasn’t found the grace of renewal and the blessings in the lessons of our mistakes to learn to do better next time!
Today we will be reading from Proverbs 14:16-9
- ~A mocker seeks wisdom and never finds it, but knowledge comes easily to those with understanding. Stay away from fools, for you won’t find knowledge on their lips. The prudent understand where they are going, but fools deceive themselves. Fools make fun of guilt, but the godly acknowledge it and seek reconciliation…Proverbs 14:6-9~
And accompanying Proverbs Wisdom –Today we will also be reading from Ephesians 3:9
- …to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Silent Wisdom comes from Love Demonstrated …not simply spoken, but rather done in faith with joy –and yes, this is possible!
The joy of the Lord is our strength!!!
Freedom comes from the action of sacrificing our thoughts for God’s will; even if they are good …to always trust God more!
Everything is in God’s time and remember to take time and pray, because freedom comes from the sacrifice of our actions (where You go I go / where You stay I stay) from our little might for Faith, because of our trust in God!
By the way, a little off this subject, but not really is that the opposite of Freedom is boredom that comes from idle faith which invites negativity in our minds, which will tie a human hearts down. In other words, Faith moves, but listens to the Wisdom from God when to go and when to stop and when to wait and stay.
First and Foremost we are affirmed in the ability of God; and our job is to remain in HIS Godly love and pray! God is able to do what stretches beyond our understanding to exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think!
God is able –And God IS our God who is our hope for a future for our children and in all things –and we must trust in God to do His job; as we patiently seek God’s will for us and simply obey Wisdom that comes to us as we learn from –yes; even through the mistakes we can make along the way!
God loves us and desires that we “may be able to comprehend …what is the width and length and depth and height –to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge (Ephesians 3:18-19).”
Faith is Trust in a God whom we know in His Character of Love that we may know riches in the love of Christ –to demonstrate this patience and kindness in a Godly way –when our human emotional strings grab a hold of our brain to think we can do this on our own! When we choose to abide in Jesus, he will remain in us!
Knowledge is Freedom and Freedom is by Grace, but to live in the freedoms of Grace requires a balance of restraint and boldness on our words and ways –that our way must be God’s way to make a difference!
Is there Peace? Peace is a resting assurance that we are with God!
Spiritual discernment needs to be developed in the Word of God and cultivated in the Love of Christ! Once Spiritual discernment is found in Christ, then our spiritual discernment is never wrong, BUT what happens is that we can be led by our emotional discernment!
Let’s take a look at all the different kinds of love:
- There are different kinds of love styles that we have for a spouse, a child, a parent, a sibling, a friend … and IN Christ there is even a type of love abilility that is for our enemy –However, all Love is of God; but NOT ALL demonstrations of love is led by God!
- There are scientifically recognized six basic love styles—also known as “colours” of love—that people use in their interpersonal relationships:
- I believe that each of these styles of love is a part of how we are made to enjoy life that God has given us, but in the way we demonstrate each style must root in Agape Love first!
I love my daughter, but did I demonstrate Godly love to her –even though my motives were good? Did I even demonstrate a mother’s love for her when I demanded her to listen to me in anger, when it was obvious she had tuned me out and wanted to walk away.
My personal answer is that I demonstrated an emotional / unspiritual love –which was powerless until I changed my way to God’s way!
A child is to honor their parents and a parent is not to provoke a child to anger! If we are honest with our self, which is honesty to God –Are any of us perfect? Or, rather is confession an opportunity to learn how to do better next time –which is spiritually growing up in God’s love until the day we die … to live forever!
The raw Truth: I demanded of her in selfish ambition –I wanted her to listen to me and I wanted her to be all that she can be NOW! The root of my ambition in part was rooted in fear!
I did not demonstrate Godly Agape love to her when my emotions ran my mouth and God’s commandments became mine –as I have found such grace in Freedoms of Christ that my emotional ambitious heart thought she must listen to all I have to teach her now!
You see, God’s commandments are for us all –and the greatest commandment is to love –but what is this love of God that we are commanded to live free in?
Below is chart of knowledge about the different styles of love! By using this chart, I can easily recognize that style of love called Pragma was my problem in communicating with my teenage daughter –a love that was driven by my head, not purely my heart and my love was undemonstrative!
This left me feeling low and like a failure –Until I realized that I just care! There is no guilt or condemnation in Christ! Yet, we must pray and seek understanding and Wisdom to be set free by God’s grace!
Because, The power of God’s Love should be the message of our Praise!
We CAN -It is okay to apologize and admit our wrongs and then make up our mind to learn to do better next time, by remaining in God’s Agape Love 1st –before open our mouth; and also learn to close our mouth when it is time!
The power of His love should be the message of our praise!
Prayer is the essence of trusting God and the beginning of our communication with our Father in Heaven who lives in us by The Holy Spirit that we can hear God’s voice direct us!
How about in the emotional moment when our mind, heart and emotions are too busied up…to remember that slowing down on purpose to be still and know that God is God is where we will be effective and then we can demonstrate Godly Love, with God –not apart from Him!
Demonstrating Agape love, which is God’s way with Him –is a Silent Wisdom that gets attention!
The power of His love should be the message of our praise!
Are you struggling in your relationship with God’s Peace in some area of love? Look at human love styles and be honest with your heart and pray and listen to the God of Peace direct your path to His Son, Jesus, who is the Christ, the Son of the Living God!
- People often look for people with the same love style as themselves for a relationship.
- Relationships based on similar love styles were found to last longer.
- However, God’s love never fails!
As you study the scientific chart on love below, remember to pray first, because this article is just written out from my pure heart of God…the rest is up to God! I have learned that the little I do, as long as I do it in faith, God will bless me and also you for we are a family in Christ -even if you are just being called by God Today, we are family in Christ … and so I share as I learn!
My work may not always reflect the perfection of Christ, but I guarantee that the Holy Spirit will!
How we demonstrate love is in many forms –and rooted in different areas:
- Love rooted in selfish ambition
- Love rooted in envy
- Love rooted in Christ
…and also, according to our personalities!
Shona Neff & Shonda Savage could take over from here with valuable information!
They are both gifted in their knowledge far above mine in this area of understanding personalities! I believe their ministries are worthy of understanding all that they have to teach us about personalities, because everything in this life revolves around “envy & selfish ambition” OR LOVE! And understanding personalities is a tool to diagnosis love roots!
Knowledge is the beginning of understanding and understanding is the beginning of Wisdom.
But as far as my job goes today, I hope to Mind you that love is not about romance –There is a pureness and innocence in true love –like that between a parent and a child!
Love is about the relationship in the way we demonstrate pure love in our heart –the love that is willing to sacrifice of our selfish desires for the good of the one we love!
The power of His love should be the message of our praise! John 3:16-17
John 3:16-17
King James Version (KJV)
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
John 15:13-17
New International Version (NIV)
13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. 17 This is my command: Love each other.
- Eros – a passionate physical and emotional love based on aesthetic enjoyment; stereotype of romantic love
- Ludus – a love that is played as a game or sport; conquest; may have multiple partners at once
- Storge – an affectionate love that slowly develops from friendship, based on similarity (kindred to Philia)
- Pragma – love that is driven by the head, not the heart; undemonstrative
- Mania – obsessive love; experience great emotional highs and lows; very possessive and often jealous lovers
- Agape – selfless altruistic love
They have found that men tend to be more ludic, whereas women tend to be storgic and pragmatic. Mania is often the first love style teenagers display.
Agape Love always trusts, always hopes, always protects and always perseveres! Love never fails!
1 Corinthians 13:4-8
New International Version (NIV)
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8 Love 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.
Evaluate your relationships with both those you know and those you meet throughout your day –do you demonstrate to them the same love that God has demonstrated to us – that while we were still sinners, God became human to die for our sins –Jesus is God’s only begotten Son!
And think about this: The nails pierced His hands, but it was LOVE for the Father and also for us that placed and held Him there! Jesus demonstrated God’s love for us –all He has made!
But do you understand this love of God; and why it was necessary for Jesus to shed His blood for us?
Our choice was to invite sin into the world –Adam and Eve invited the knowledge of evil into the world and Jesus came to rescue us from sin’s consequences!
- But the demonstration of our love (see 1 Co 13:4-8) is our (fruit) …
- Yet, Is our fruit demonstrating from the tree of LIFE … Love in Christ; or not?
- The Holy Spirit IS the gift of God’s LOVE & Wisdom that is for us for the profit of Peace in Jesus … and not against any God has made!
- God is LOVE and remain in Jesus and He will remain in you. God IS LOVE. Remain in Love and you are remaining in Jesus. Love is described in 1 Co 13!
Galatians 5:22-23
New International Version (NIV)
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Love in Christ,
Karen Rowe
To God be the glory: Founder of Hope in Today Ministries, Inc.
To God be the glory: Author of The Train Whistle, Sounding the call of God’s Love
