(June 12, 2016 at 4:52 pm)Jörmungandr Wrote:Quote:34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Matthew 22:34-40
Love... perhaps the greatest mystery of all. Is it a feeling, or is it a choice? The greatest commandment says to love God with all your heart. This would seem to imply that love is a choice, that we can choose to love or not love God. Those who advocate that love is a choice talk of choosing to commit to the one you love and engage in loving acts towards the loved one, but do these same choices apply to loving a disembodied spirit? Loving somebody with all your heart and mind and soul seems to speak to love as a feeling. Does the heart or soul choose? Is it possible to choose to "love God with all your heart and soul and mind"?
Great question!
The Bible uses the word love in different ways so you really need to go back to the original language to determine the type of love that is being referenced. There are three types used. Eros, Agape and Philos.
Eros is a Greek term which actually means desire and longing. Eros love is based on the strong feeling we have against one another and it usually develops during the 1st stage of a romantic relationship.
Agape love is the love that God commanded all believers to have for everyone whether he/she is a believer or not. Agape love should never be determined by our feelings; it is more of a set of behaviors or actions. With agape, you do not have to actually feel it for you to give it, which means that you can be able to show love without feeling anything at all. At times feelings can follow after showing this kind of love.
Philos is a unique kind of love like the one you have for a companion or friend. It refers to loving one another just like your brother or sister. Philadelphia is rooted in this and why it is called the "city of brotherly love".
So yes love is a mystery. I will add this. Love is more complex than we think. It is more precious than we think. It is more amazing than we think and maybe that is why it is becoming more increasingly rare. One of the most famous love stories in American literature is Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. This is a love story between a man called Mr. Darcy and a woman called Elizabeth. Darcy falls in love with Elizabeth and he doesn’t realize it. It is set back in the times when gentlemen were required, or at least expected, to be gentlemen. At one point he walks in to a room and finds himself alone with this woman. Protocol demands that he leave, he cannot be alone unsupervised with another woman in the same room. So he turns and he gets half-way out the door and as he’s half-way out the door, he stops. He turns around and reenters the room and he says, “It will not do. My feelings cannot be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how much I ardently admire and love you.” Gentlemen, listen carefully, that line is a winner. Having made this declaration of love, he goes on to explain that he loves her even though it goes against his will, his reason and against his own better character. She rejects that declaration of love and refuses it. Because he is a man, he cannot understand why so he asks for explanation. She looks at him and says, “You told me that you loved me even though it went against your will, your reason and against your own better character.” In other words she is saying, “You told me you loved me even though it went against all better judgment”. True love does not exist in the absence of judgment, true love only exists in the presence of it. The words “I love you” are meaningful to you only if the person who speaks them truly knows you.
I can promise you right now, if no one knows the real you in all your weaknesses, shortcomings, failings or the darker side of your character, if nobody knows that, even if you are one of the most popular people at work, school or church, I can guarantee that you are desperately lonely. If there are few people in this world who do know you with all your weaknesses, shortcomings and failings and they love you, those are the most meaningful relationships you have. When anything good happens or when anything bad happens, they are the first people you call to share it with. Because that is what love is, love does not exist in the absence of judgment, love only exists in the presence of it.
We are not made happy by what we acquire but by what we appreciate.
