what is love ?

[AlexBC]

Sexual love for a spouse is something that cannot be explained. Why a person would want to be with a particular person rather than another..

In fact, we know a great deal about why a person would find one person more attractive that another.

And what is "sexual love". I would take it to simply mean "deep feeling of sexual desire and attraction".

 

[stovebolts]

And some people DO fall out of love simply because a spouse is fat.

Then they never experienced love...

1 Corinthians 13:4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

People who "fall out of love" because a spouse gained a few pounds are only looking on the exterior, and not the interior. Love perseveres and is not self seeking. Lust of the flesh is a strong temptation, but if our "love" for another is based on things that are only skin deep, then that relationship will not last, and it was never love. Let's call it what it is. It's selfish lust and pride and the other is nothing more than an object of pleasure.

See, the biggest problem is that people associate that great feeling of sex with love. And don't get me wrong, sex and love can be a very beautiful thing. But if you can't get enough sex and your woman (or man) is simply an object of your enjoyment, then that kind of sex will never fill the soul's desire. No, you need the bond of friendship first and friendship is more than skin deep. When do we stop looking at the exterior of people and start seeing their insides? What we have is a sector of fake people putting up a front to other fake people and we wonder why our society is the way it is.

Tell ya what, watch this short 10 minute video and see if it explains it a bit better.

[video=youtube;OTgmA35zstg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTgmA35zstg[/video]

 

[abide]

Then they never experienced love...

1 Corinthians 13:4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

People who "fall out of love" because a spouse gained a few pounds are only looking on the exterior, and not the interior. Love perseveres and is not self seeking. Lust of the flesh is a strong temptation, but if our "love" for another is based on things that are only skin deep, then that relationship will not last, and it was never love. Let's call it what it is. It's selfish lust and pride and the other is nothing more than an object of pleasure.

See, the biggest problem is that people associate that great feeling of sex with love. And don't get me wrong, sex and love can be a very beautiful thing. But if you can't get enough sex and your woman (or man) is simply an object of your enjoyment, then that kind of sex will never fill the soul's desire. No, you need the bond of friendship first and friendship is more than skin deep. When do we stop looking at the exterior of people and start seeing their insides? What we have is a sector of fake people putting up a front to other fake people and we wonder why our society is the way it is.

Tell ya what, watch this short 10 minute video and see if it explains it a bit better.

[video=youtube;OTgmA35zstg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTgmA35zstg[/video]

I guess I have always been hearing of the Greek words for love. I love the Hebrews words. Thanks very much for posting.

 

[jasoncran]

I'm a little unsure what the choking example was relating to. :

And the existence of Pheremones in Humans has been a hotly debated topic. I'm pretty sure they only just discovered evidence of a possible Human pheremone last year.

And...I agree...If you told that to your wife she'd have every right to look at you with blank stares. :o

And i'm not saying that love is just sexual attraction at all. We bring a lot more to the table than just that because we have higher brain functions that tell us how best to act on those chemical precursors in a given situation. And you mention Oxcytocin. We've seen that people with an inability to produce sufficient quantities of that hormone are more prone to psychopathic/sociopathic tendency. So it seems that hormone is doing a lot to keep people on the straight and narrow.

And some people DO fall out of love simply because a spouse is fat.

related. in that well go to war then talk . you want that rush it is addictive.

but it doesn last and then reality hits you.

really enjoy your shallow relationships. theres always somebody better looking then you. always.

 

[Jethro Bodine]

People who "fall out of love" because a spouse gained a few pounds are only looking on the exterior, and not the interior.

It's just that there's a lot more exterior to look through now to get to the interior.

 

[jasoncran]

well we get it wrong.

heres a classic one for the sinners and i have seen them do that

http://www.musicsonglyrics.com/picture-lyrics-kid-rock.html

i can go one with some other songs that seem to show what the media says love is but is nothing like.

 

[BornAgain]

Love is never having to say you're sorry....

Just kidding...lol!

 

[Jethro Bodine]

Love is never having to say you're sorry....

Forget love. You owe us an apology for that one.



(lol)

 

[BornAgain]

Forget love. You owe us an apology for that one.





Lol! It is nice to break up (not really break up) the monotony and be humerous (or is that how you spell funny bone) humorous for a change!!!

 

[Jethro Bodine]

You're from Michigan. There is forgiveness for anyone from Michigan.

 

[BornAgain]

You're from Michigan. There is forgiveness for anyone from Michigan.

Whew...faith and begora, this is good news.

 

[stovebolts]

It's just that there's a lot more exterior to look through now to get to the interior.

Then your looking at the wrong thing... Maybe it's because I was ripped and torn from my family as a young child and placed into an orphanage and then foster care.. bounced around from here to there, Mom's, Dad's, foster care, institutions. But what I got out of it was a sense of what is really, really important and it's called family and deep relationships with people that are close to you.

I've come to appreciate the things I have, and I have a lot of nice things. But they are only things and my happiness does not depend on my things. My wife is not one of my "things". She is a part of who I am. If I don't like the paint on my car, I can paint it or I can sell it or I can do whatever I want to do with it so I get the satisfaction that I want from my car. But I don't own my wife because I don't own myself. We were both bought at a price by the precious blood of Jesus and our love is way more than skin deep. She is part of me, and I am part of her and it doesn't matter if she's all dressed up for a night out or she's in her grubbies helping me stack wood. She's the most beautiful woman in the world.

 

[Jethro Bodine]

Then your looking at the wrong thing...

You know I was kidding, right?

 

[stovebolts]

You know I was kidding, right?

Of course I did. It just gave me a segway for my soapbox

 

[abide]

Then your looking at the wrong thing... Maybe it's because I was ripped and torn from my family as a young child and placed into an orphanage and then foster care.. bounced around from here to there, Mom's, Dad's, foster care, institutions. But what I got out of it was a sense of what is really, really important and it's called family and deep relationships with people that are close to you.

I've come to appreciate the things I have, and I have a lot of nice things. But they are only things and my happiness does not depend on my things. My wife is not one of my "things". She is a part of who I am. If I don't like the paint on my car, I can paint it or I can sell it or I can do whatever I want to do with it so I get the satisfaction that I want from my car. But I don't own my wife because I don't own myself. We were both bought at a price by the precious blood of Jesus and our love is way more than skin deep. She is part of me, and I am part of her and it doesn't matter if she's all dressed up for a night out or she's in her grubbies helping me stack wood. She's the most beautiful woman in the world.

Very meaningful.

 

[stovebolts]

You know what though Jethro? I've been kind of going through some stuff lately and I'm watching my kids go through some stuff that's taking me back a bit to my younger days. I'm not into disclosing my life here, but I'm under a lot of stress and maybe I just need to lighten up.

 

[jasoncran]

Then your looking at the wrong thing... Maybe it's because I was ripped and torn from my family as a young child and placed into an orphanage and then foster care.. bounced around from here to there, Mom's, Dad's, foster care, institutions. But what I got out of it was a sense of what is really, really important and it's called family and deep relationships with people that are close to you.

I've come to appreciate the things I have, and I have a lot of nice things. But they are only things and my happiness does not depend on my things. My wife is not one of my "things". She is a part of who I am. If I don't like the paint on my car, I can paint it or I can sell it or I can do whatever I want to do with it so I get the satisfaction that I want from my car. But I don't own my wife because I don't own myself. We were both bought at a price by the precious blood of Jesus and our love is way more than skin deep. She is part of me, and I am part of her and it doesn't matter if she's all dressed up for a night out or she's in her grubbies helping me stack wood. She's the most beautiful woman in the world.

this explains your change on some issues. i will then leave it be.

 

[Slider]

Here are some of my thoughts on the topic:

When discussing "love" as it is in the Word, three common verses are most often brought up.

The first is John 3:16. "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son that whosever believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life." This verse does not say God loves everyone in the world; it says he loved the world. When you read Mat 13:38 you see the world is defined as "the field" where people (good seed and tares) are planted.

I bring these things up because often people believe God loves everyone because of what this verse "seems" to say. Yet when we go to Romans 9:13 as well as Proverbs 6:16-19 we see examples of individuals and types of people God hates.

The second verse often quoted is 1 John 4:8: "He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love." This is absolutely correct, however "love" is just one of the many things God is. God is love, but love is not God. I'm sure most of us understand that God's love is different from man's love, even if (as I'm also sure of) none of us fully understand it.

The third verse (actually a chapter) is 1 Cor 13. I use the KJV, and it doesn't say "love", but rather charity. No matter.... I don't have a problem with people defining "charity" as love. It certainly isn't "charity" as we think of in a human reference (giving to the poor) because Paul says in the 3rd verse it isn't that. There is much to talk about in this chapter, but one concept I'd like people think about in this chapter is verse 6: "rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth." We get a list of things charity (love) isn't and doesn't do, and then it says it rejoices in the truth. Jesus said he was "the Truth". In any sense, there is a connection between charity (love) and truth, and so few others have brought that up.

Last, for now, I'd like to bring up a verse that defines love: "Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren." 1 John 3:16.

Why? Well, if we believe that if Christ is in us as individuals, we also must realize we are not the only ones. Yes, Jesus loves us as individual believers, but he also has that same love for your brothers as he does for you. There are verses that say that if you love a brethren you love Christ himself.

What about those that aren't brethren? Does God love them? Should we? I'd say the answer is no. Again, God doesn't love everyone. However, the big question is... Do you know who your brethren are? That aithest you know.... How do you know he's not really a brother that Jesus hasn't brought into the fold yet? In God's scope who knows the end from the beginning, he is still a brother who hasn't manifested himself yet. He may be a brother, or he might be a child of the devil. Do you know for sure? I'd say we don't.

Just some thoughts....

 

[stovebolts]

this explains your change on some issues. i will then leave it be.

I have never changed (drastically) view points on the issues your talking about. I've just always kept them to myself out of respect for others like yourself. I would rather build up than be puffed up. In the end God has the final say.

 

[Jethro Bodine]

Here are some of my thoughts on the topic:

When discussing "love" as it is in the Word, three common verses are most often brought up.

The first is John 3:16. "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son that whosever believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life." This verse does not say God loves everyone in the world; it says he loved the world. When you read Mat 13:38 you see the world is defined as "the field" where people (good seed and tares) are planted.

I bring these things up because often people believe God loves everyone because of what this verse "seems" to say. Yet when we go to Romans 9:13 as well as Proverbs 6:16-19 we see examples of individuals and types of people God hates.

The second verse often quoted is 1 John 4:8: "He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love." This is absolutely correct, however "love" is just one of the many things God is. God is love, but love is not God. I'm sure most of us understand that God's love is different from man's love, even if (as I'm also sure of) none of us fully understand it.

The third verse (actually a chapter) is 1 Cor 13. I use the KJV, and it doesn't say "love", but rather charity. No matter.... I don't have a problem with people defining "charity" as love. It certainly isn't "charity" as we think of in a human reference (giving to the poor) because Paul says in the 3rd verse it isn't that. There is much to talk about in this chapter, but one concept I'd like people think about in this chapter is verse 6: "rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth." We get a list of things charity (love) isn't and doesn't do, and then it says it rejoices in the truth. Jesus said he was "the Truth". In any sense, there is a connection between charity (love) and truth, and so few others have brought that up.

Last, for now, I'd like to bring up a verse that defines love: "Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren." 1 John 3:16.

Why? Well, if we believe that if Christ is in us as individuals, we also must realize we are not the only ones. Yes, Jesus loves us as individual believers, but he also has that same love for your brothers as he does for you. There are verses that say that if you love a brethren you love Christ himself.

What about those that aren't brethren? Does God love them? Should we? I'd say the answer is no. Again, God doesn't love everyone. However, the big question is... Do you know who your brethren are? That aithest you know.... How do you know he's not really a brother that Jesus hasn't brought into the fold yet? In God's scope who knows the end from the beginning, he is still a brother who hasn't manifested himself yet. He may be a brother, or he might be a child of the devil. Do you know for sure? I'd say we don't.

Just some thoughts....

I really have to not agree with your fundamental point.

"43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven." (Matthew 5: NIV1984)