LOVE IS MORE THAN A FEELING.IT IS THE HIGHEST LEVEL OF SPIRITUALITY

Rev.Michael Benson Ajayi

John 13:34 -35 "A new  commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have  loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all  men  know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another."
         Love is the fulfillment of the laws of the old testament and  it is the driving force behind any action by God's people. The scriptures says in Matthew14: 14 "And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick." miracles are a demonstration of God's love for us. That's why demanding money before praying for the sick grieves the Holy Spirit. Jesus did not demand anything from the sick before healing them.  He instructed His disciples to demonstrate this same love by not charging fees for miracles. Matthew 10:8-9 says" Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead,  cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give. Provide neither  gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses," Jesus takes care of His servants by prospering their businesses, jobs and through gifts.The scriptures is all about God's love for humanity.
            Love has four basic meanings in the scriptures and each one is identified by its unique characteristics. The first is 'Eros'  from where we have the word 'erotic ' .It is the physical, sensual love between a husband and wife, it is portrayed in the old testament book of The Song of Solomon . God created us male and female and instituted marriage in the Garden of Eden.Sex comes with a lot of emotional responsibilities and exposes our vulnerabilities and is only suitable and  legal under a marriage setting where each person is on oath to protect the other's interest. Sex outside marriage is forbidden by God because it compromises a person's security, medically,emotionally,financially, spiritually and physically.It brings about dishonour and weakness in our commitment to God's service. It weakens our faith in God. Whatever respect a person has for you is destroyed during sex outside marriage. It opens the door to loneliness and low self-esteem . The scriptures says in 1 Corinthians 6:16-20 MSG "There’s more to sex than mere skin on skin. Sex is as much spiritual mystery as physical fact. As written in Scripture, “The two become one.” Since we want to become spiritually one with the Master, we must not pursue the kind of sex that avoids commitment and intimacy, leaving us more lonely than ever—the kind of sex that can never “become one.” There is a sense in which sexual sins are different from all others. In sexual sin we violate the sacredness of our own bodies, these bodies that were made for God-given and God-modeled love, for “becoming one” with another. Or didn’t you realize that your body is a sacred place, the place of the Holy Spirit? Don’t you see that you can’t live however you please, squandering what God paid such a high price for? The physical part of you is not some piece of property belonging to the spiritual part of you. God owns the whole works. So let people see God in and through your body."
        Within the context of marriage, sex is used for emotional and spiritual bonding and for reproduction, it is therefore, wise for people to marry to fulfill their godly desire through the 'eros'  type of love. The scriptures says in 1Cor 7:8-9 "Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I do. But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion."
        The second type of love is known as 'Storge' and it  is the love that one has for his or her family . It is  the bond among brothers, mothers, fathers, sisters and cousins, aunts, uncles and other extended members of one's family. In the old testament, God commands His people to honour their parents if they must live long and prosper.(Exodus 20:12)the scriptures speaks of the bond between Abraham and his family, Jacob and his sons, Lazarus and his sisters marry and Martha. This type of love does not allow for sexual relationship with close members of one's family (Deut. 27:20-23) this was what informed the disciplinary measure taken against the man having a sexual relationship with his father's wife in the new testament (1cor.5:1-5).
          The third kind of love is the kind that exists between friends. It is called ' Philia' it is also known  as brotherly love in Greek. Christians are admonished to have brotherly love for each other. The scriptures says in (Romans 12:10 ESV) 'Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. '. There should be a competition in our churches on who is the most friendly,  this is the cure to gossip, backbiting, nepotism, tribalism and other social ills that seek to divide us.  A true friend will tell you the truth no matter how bitter it is,  because friendship can't be built on falsehood. God so loved us that He sent Jesus to tell us the truth about life,  this truth is described in Rev.10:9-18 as bitter -sweet. . Therefore, if one's spouse is sincere enough to point out areas that need improvement in our lives, as unpleasant as that may be sometimes, it shouldn't be seen as not being loving, that's what true friends do for each other. Marriage is expected to bring about improvement of character which leads to promotion, therefore, a spouse that hates being corrected by his or her partner is actually asking to be hated and such persons are vulnerable to emotional pranksters.
      God's love (Agape) is the fourth type and is the highest demonstration of love and the highest level of spiritual enlightenment.It is unconditional and sacrificial .It seeks to amend faults and covers a multitude of sins.
    As you receive Jesus as  lord and read this now receive grace for an overflow of love through you to heal the hurting in Jesus name.
Prayer / counseling + 2348098536911 ,+ 2348035536911 , email :Michaelbensonajayi@gmail.com