What Is Love?
The Bible tells us to love one another, even our enemies. But in American culture the word "love" has taken on a new meaning that was not intended in the Bible. So what does the word "love" mean in our personal (not romantic) relationships?
Love has been redefined to mean to unconditionally accept other people. The new definition of love is to embrace, and accept as valid, the values other people hold. It sounds nice, but is this a good definition of love?
No. It's a destructive and uncaring way to treat other people.
So what is love? Love is caring about the welfare of other people, and wanting the best things for them. Love also means action--we not only care about and want the best things for others, true love takes action. For example, we feed the hungry, heal the sick and comfort the lonely.
So how do we love homosexuals? For us to embrace homosexuality as a valid, acceptable lifestyle is not love. It is enabling destructive behavior that physically and mentally hurts the homosexual, and is harmful to society and to those who do not engage in homosexual behavior.
Should we then get in the face of homosexual people and tell them they are evil and must stop what they are doing? No, that is not love either.
Love starts with us living as Christians, conforming our life to Jesus Christ. Love means showing homosexuals, through our lives, what Christ looks like. Love means showing homosexuals that homosexuality is not who they are, and there are ways a struggling person can find healing.
For more information about coming out of homosexuality, please visit the Exodus International web site.
Love has been redefined to mean to unconditionally accept other people. The new definition of love is to embrace, and accept as valid, the values other people hold. It sounds nice, but is this a good definition of love?
No. It's a destructive and uncaring way to treat other people.
So what is love? Love is caring about the welfare of other people, and wanting the best things for them. Love also means action--we not only care about and want the best things for others, true love takes action. For example, we feed the hungry, heal the sick and comfort the lonely.
So how do we love homosexuals? For us to embrace homosexuality as a valid, acceptable lifestyle is not love. It is enabling destructive behavior that physically and mentally hurts the homosexual, and is harmful to society and to those who do not engage in homosexual behavior.
Should we then get in the face of homosexual people and tell them they are evil and must stop what they are doing? No, that is not love either.
Love starts with us living as Christians, conforming our life to Jesus Christ. Love means showing homosexuals, through our lives, what Christ looks like. Love means showing homosexuals that homosexuality is not who they are, and there are ways a struggling person can find healing.
For more information about coming out of homosexuality, please visit the Exodus International web site.
posted by BrickBalloon
Read This Post In Our: Christianity in America Blog Archive
2 Comments:
Good to see someone talk about Biblical love. People often put "love" upon a pedestal and worship it. Of course, that "love" really is human love, rather than Godly love, because human love seeks to satisfy itself first. Human love is selfish because Fallen Man is selfish. It's cringe-inducing when someone says "God is love" because the love they're talking about is this kind of self-justifying human love: seeking satisfaction/righteousness for oneself, to give love only with the full expectation of receiving it. But it's not Godly love.
Well said Red Giants. Excellent comment. You hit the nail on the head. We're selfish and we want what we want. Even when we say we're "loving" someone else, if it is not Biblical then it is nothing more than selfish love for ourselves. But you said it much better than I can. Thanks for the excellent comment!
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