Wednesday, 09 June 2010
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Love: The Biblical Perspective
I decided to post this because ... well, I myself just got out of a relationship. I was engaged to a man & he broke off the relationship, citing "personality differences". I have dated MANY men (sadly, I think) in my life, wasting my heart.
Before I met my ex-fiance, I made the choice to not date anyone again until I met my husband. When we met, it wasn't "love at first sight," & I didn't even like his appearance. But as we talked on the first "meeting" (I informed him that it wasn't a date, just a friendly meeting to get to know each other, which I TRULY MEANT because I was "guarding my heart," as Psalm 23 (I think that's it) says in the Bible).
It has been a month, & I have slowly been getting over it...but I still love him.
There are several things that I want to share with you about love, from what I've learned...based on 1 Corinthians 13 & my own experience. I don't want to push or pressure you to believe in the Bible, but instead I want to encourage you through it, as a piece of literature! So I hope that you take away something from this - I did.
1 Corinthians 13
~ "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 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. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.
When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face.
Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."From this passage, we can see these things about love:
* It is patient...that means it is willing to "go through fire" if it has to, for the other person...it is willing to wait for the other person while they heal from any kind of hurt/pain, & while they grow to be a better person.
* It does not envy...if your girlfriend/boyfriend/husband/wife is with another person of the opposite sex at some point, you will not be envious but trust them to make the right decision to keep it at a friendship level.
* It never fails...that means that it goes on NO MATTER WHAT SITUATION comes forward..if someone truly loves you, they will stay with you & work their hardest to love you...LOVE IS A CHOICE, not a feeling (feelings are up & down but choices can/should be more stable)...you choose to love the other person, even through their personal weaknesses or faults against you.
* It puts childish ways behind it...it doesn't play games & is not immature
* If I (do something) but have not love, I am nothing..."Love is what makes the world go around."
* It is not rude or self-seeking...It always puts the OTHER PERSON FIRST, even if it hurts to do so. Sometimes when you argue with your SO, you may not want to admit you are wrong or apologize first. But according to this, no matter what, you should swallow your pride & apologize first sometimes.What other sources of inspiration have helped people get through tough times, or to understand love better?
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About the Author
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- From: MDrabing83@xanga
- About Me: I'm a 28 year old female from Baytown, Texas near Houston. I'm a missionary & a teacher. I love Jesus!! if you wanna know about Him, just ask. He's my Life, my Everything.
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Comments (14)
I know the difficulties you're going through. It's tough. I've been in some rather unfortunate situations with love myself. It's just difficult. But what helps me is choosing to completely refocus myself on my relationship with God and just allowing God to work in me. Oh, it sounds so easy, but it's something I feel I have to do almost daily.
A lot of times when I'm in such a place that my heart hurts, I find myself realizing how I've made that person too much than they actually are. Instead of making God my ultimate priority, I make the other person my priority. And this is so sad because I know that God is the only one that I should give priority to, but I tend to allow others to be that priority.
I don't know if this even applies, makes sense or helps, but I appreciate the post!
hey, very, very nice post.
i'm in a relationship right now and even though it hasn't been long, i do consider love and marriage to be the goal of every relationship if it's rooted in the bible.now, what do i know about love, i'm a 19 year old college kid who has had his fair share of flings and what not but that's before i got to really understand the gospel.when i reflect on my relationship right now with my girlfriend, i do admit i like her a lot but far away from loving her in the biblical sense...i make sure to always remember this chapter and question my intentions and feelings, so i can very much relate to this post.but anyways, my pastor gave a sermon once about a girl named leah in the bible and her story is the epitome of true love. in order to love another person, one has to love god first so that the void in your heart is filled even before you love someone else. that way, even though it sucks to lose your SO and you are disappointed about it, you always have someone to fall back on and something to help put things into perspective.the only reason we stay heartbroken for so long is because we let that other guy/girl fill that void and without them, we are utterly broken...so yeah, i guess through the tough times, just remember that in the midst of all our struggles and heartaches, god makes everything work together for our good since he loves us unconditionally.hope this helped somewhat... and you should really check out the story of leah in the bible. if you want, i can send you a podcast of my pastor's sermon on true love, i know it'll definitely help!
oh, and to the comment before me. yeah, god should be your priority but i feel like that's not enough. this is how i feel (and i could be completely wrong!) but god should be a part of every single one of your priorities...hahah, just something i've wrestled with in the past...
music; god is outdated
I tottally back you on this! Wish I was more help though..sadly I havnt dated yet...But I do know prayer is the best..and asking the holy spirit to lead you. ^^
I really agree with this post, it's nice to have some Biblical application to love because THAT'S what love really is. I sort of don't like how you refer to it as just a piece of literature, though, because to some people it .. isn't that. It's so much more.
I don't want to preach or anything, but I think a religious foundation truly makes you understand how to love someone, how to love yourself. Relationships are so tough, we can't go through life relying on other people or just ourselves to learn how to treat others right. God comes first.
A simple explanation of such a powerful passage. Very good post, and very moving too. Best of luck to you. God's got a plan for all the muck in our lives, thank goodness. God bless!
great post! i look to my parents and loving couples in my church for inspiration and insight into love...
absolutely love this post.
I absolutely love this post. I was going through some dating trouble recently and my friend from church sent this quote to me.
"A woman's heart should be so lost in God, that a man has to seek Him to find her."
I have no idea where she got that quote, but I am glad she shared it! It is so true. If you're a believer in Jesus Christ, a relationship should be based on Him. And the best things in life are given to us when we are fully focused on God, well it has proven true in my life!
Great post (:
Thank you Jesus that someone used scripture! Thank you, thank you, thank you for writing this!!!!
I love how SOMEONE actually posted a chapter of the Bible on Datingish! Thank you!
The only sentence that tugged at my heart was this: "I don't want to push or pressure you to believe in the Bible, but instead I want to encourage you through it, as a piece of literature!" Orrr you could encourage us through it, as the word of God. I understand that you're trying to be non-offensive, but dumbing down what the Bible really is.....is backing down from the power of what you believe. The gospel WILL be offensive to some people because we're sinners and many people don't want to accept God's truth. But my point is, the Bible is the true word of God, and THAT is why it's encouraging...not because it's "literature" like "Hamlet," give or take.
Thanks for posting.
There is a book called
When God Writes Your Love Storyand it's about waiting for your husband. Thinking about how each time you date is "giving a piece of your heart away" when it's not meant for them. I haven't finished it, but it's pretty good. But it just seems so hard to be able to do that. In the book they state that waiting for the man/woman you're meant to be with will be hard, but worth it.
I hope God's writing my love story.
Just because the relationship didn't last doesn't mean you "wasted your heart." And just because you get together with someone doesn't mean you have to stay with them if you haven't made a formal commitment like marriage.
And I think the guard your heart verse is often misinterpreted. I heard somewhere that in the culture in which the Bible was written, the intestines were seen as the "love organ", not the heart. It would be interesting to look that up again.
Personally, I'd prefer to date a lot of different people before I get married. Not because I am a cold-hearted bitch, but because you learn something from everyone you're with. I've dated different people, loved different people, and I'm not any worse for it. I don't feel like I've "lost a piece of my heart" or anything melodramatic like that. (I don't say that as a way to diminish anyone's pain, just saying that a broken relationship doesn't mean you're forever "damaged". You're only forever damaged if you forever see yourself that way.) Yes, I've been hurt, but so what? I got over it, I learned something from it.