Matthew 5.21-48 - 'What is Love?'

R&R Devotional Bible Study
040 - Matthew 5.21-48
'What is Love?'

Men are the leaders:
1 Corinthians 11.3-16

Emotions
-Emotions must be governed by the Agape [benevolence] of Yahweh...
-Emotion = Attitude toward something...
-Feelings flow out of emotions..

In a sense we must also be stoic, which is antithetical to our modern culture...
-Stoic means: to endure pain/hardship without showing feelings or complaining...
[regal; mature]

We must be Christians...
-It is not we must act Christianity out, But we must be Christians...

Matthew 22.36-40:
'36-'Teacher, what is the great commandment in the Law?' 37-He [The Lord Christ Jesus] said to him, 'You shall love The Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. 38-This is the great and foremost commandment. 39-The second is like it, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' 40-On these commandments hang the whole Law and the Prophets'.'

Love is a main theme throughout the entirety of the Bible. Seeing as this is the case, there must be a proper and accurate understanding of love...
-Unfortunately, we do not understand what love really is...
-We are not even supposed to focus on our self in love...
-In fact, the word 'love' itself is a word that we have used in place of the four Greek terms, which means we have dumbed down 'love'...
-To further this, we have exchanged the actual meaning of love from what it really means to mean:
'It is a selfish emotional infatuated feeling, which only make us feel 'good' continually'...

There are actually four words that we, in the english, have condensed down to one simple term:

-Agape: Unconditional benevolence;charity; unconditional moral sense; a fond affection; tenderness; impartial charity... [impartial]

-Phileo: Affection or attachment; comradely; devotion

-Storge: Not used in the New Testament. Familial affection. When we are told that they are without love in Romans 1.31, it is the opposite, we are being told they are without natural affection.

-Eros: Not used in the New Testament, but this is the kind of 'love' that we equate with love, a feeling based passion...

John 3.16
For God so loved the world...

1 Corinthians 13.4-8:
'3-If I give all my possesions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing. 4-Love is patient, love is kind, is not jealous, does not brag, is not puffed up; 5-it does not act unbecomingly, does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered; 6-it does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with truth; 7-it bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endues all things...[Love never fails]'

Something to note here: Giving things, feeding the poor, surrendering yourself...These are not love in and of themselves...

Galatians 5.22-23:
'22-But the fruit of The Spirit is love [agape], joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law.'

Agape:
Unconditional benevolence;charity; unconditional moral sense; a fond affection; tenderness; impartial charity...
-When we are told that Yahweh is love, we are being shown the chief attribute of Yahweh, and from this chief attribute the rest of His attributes flow out of, the 'negative' attributes are a direct response for transgression against Yahweh's holiness...
-It is only because Yahweh first loved us that we love [1 John 4.19]

-Affection means to care for something...

-One of the definitions of 'Affection' is to be affected by something, when Yahweh bestows His affection upon us, He affects us by changing us, thus being affected, we now have devotion and attachment to Yahweh...

It is from this unconditional benevolence of Yahweh where the rest of the attributes of Yahweh flow out of...
-It might not be in the specific order that is listed, but Agape is first...
-The good attributes flow out of the Agape of Yahweh, the negative attributes being a response against the sinner...

Delight: Extreme satisfaction...

Joy/Rejoice
Joy:
Joy is being able to focus on God through The Lord Christ Jesus with no thought of self; to be able to walk in sanctification...
-After hearing, then we are sealed [which includes faith and belief]...

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