From
the classic tale of Romeo and Juliet to today’s blockbuster
movies, the world is in love with love. People sing about
it, dream about it, and write books about this most natural
of all feelings. Everyone has two basic emotional needs:
the desire to feel loved and the desire to show love. A
major malfunction in humanity occurs when these desires
are mixed up, and when love is not properly received or
given.
People say that they “love the New Orleans Saints.”
Girls fall in and out of love all through high school. Mankind
is searching for true love, but as one classic Country music
song puts it, the world is “looking for love in all
the wrong places.” The fact is that true love is not
found in receiving love from others. Being the center of
your mate’s attention isn’t all you need. Love
isn’t about getting some feeling or fix, it is about
giving devotion and time. It is better to give than receive.
In
modern thought love is often confused with lust and is usually
considered an emotion that can be turned on and off like
a light switch. The concept of love in the Bible is very
different. Love or "ahava" in the Hebrew means
“to give.” The word “ahava” is usually
used in the Scriptures as a verb. This means that love is
something you do and not just what you feel or believe.
Biblical
love is more concerned about giving than receiving. Giving
is the vehicle of love. “For YHWH so loved the world
that He gave His only Son,” John 3:16. (YHWH is the
Hebrew name of the Creator as given to Moses at the burning
bush. To learn more about this name visit www.emetministries.com)
True love is not even based on feelings, as feelings can
actually stop someone from giving love to others. We treat
people the way we feel. Therefore, if we feel loved of the
Almighty then we will treat other people with that same
love. When you treat others rudely, it’s simply because
you are not feeling loved. Feelings are symptoms of thought.
The problem is that most of people think that they are unlovely.
Masses think that God doesn’t love them. When we have
these thoughts we then are inclined to act unloving to others.
Understand that if you are not feeling the love of the Almighty,
then it is your emotions that are stopping His ahava from
filling your life. But, if you meditate, think, sing, or
pray about YHWH’s ahava then your emotions and actions
will reflect His love. Your actions go along with what you
think about. “Beloved, if YHWH so loved us; we also
should love one another,” 1 John 4:11.
Don’t
allow bad problems or emotions to convince you that YHWH
doesn’t feel compassion towards you. Regardless of
what you have done in the past, YHWH loves you and you are
special to Him. His love is unconditional because it is
His nature to love. “But anyone who does not love
does not know YHWH, for YHWH is love,” 1 John 4:8.
A
person of faith should overflow with the love of Christ;
a love that constantly gives to others. “He that has
my commandments, and keeps them, he it is that loves me,”
John 14:21. Notice the pattern in this verse – first
you do love and then you feel it and receive it. For faith
to be effective, each religious action, each prayer, and
each good deed must be from the motivation of showing love.
Biblical love is an unconditional gift that is freely offered
from the heavens. The Savior said, “My command is
this: love each other as I have loved you,” John 15:12.
Here
are a few Bible verses to consider about YHWH’s love:
•
For YHWH so loved the world that he gave his one and only
Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have
eternal life. - John 3:16
• I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer
live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body,
I live by faith in the Son of YHWH, who loved me and gave
himself for me. - Galatians 2:20
• Know therefore that YHWH your Elohim is Elohim;
he is the faithful Elohim, keeping his covenant of love
to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep
his commands. - Deuteronomy 7:9
• For YHWH loves the just and will not forsake his
faithful ones. - Psalm 37:28
• I love those who love me, and those who seek me
find me. - Proverbs 8:17
• This is how YHWH showed his love among us: He sent
his one and only Son into the world that we might live through
him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved
us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
Dear friends, since YHWH so loved us, we also ought to love
one another. – 1 John 4:9-11
• And so we know and rely on the love God has for
us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in YHWH, and
Elohim in him. - 1 John 4:16
• We love because he first loved us. If anyone says,
"I love YHWH," yet hates his brother, he is a
liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he
has seen, cannot love YHWH, whom he has not seen.
– 1 John 4:19-20
• This is how we know who the children of YHWH are
and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not
do what is right is not a child of YHWH; nor is anyone who
does not love his brother. -
1 John 3:10
• So be very careful to love YHWH your Elohim. - Joshua
23:11
• The Savior replied: "'Love the YHWH your Elohim
with all your heart and with all your soul and with all
your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment.
And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'
– Matthew 22:37-39
The “Finding the Truth” series are written
by Daniel Rendelman of Emet Ministries. Daniel Rendelman
is the found and leader of Emet Ministries and the author
of the book "Finding the Truth." He, his wife,
and five children live in Newberry, South Carolina. He can
be reached at emetministries@gmail.com. Find more teachings,
audio messages, videos, and music at www.emetministries.com.