February, 2012
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14 (or more) verses on Love – Part 3
1. “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God ; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love…. if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us…. We love, because He first loved us.” 1 John 4: 7-8, 12, 19
2. “But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. “Whoever hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also ; and whoever takes away your coat, do not withhold your shirt from him either. “Give to everyone who asks of you, and whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back. “Treat others the same way you want them to treat you. “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.” Luke 6:27-32
3. “Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another ; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. For this, “YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, YOU SHALL NOT MURDER, YOU SHALL NOT STEAL, YOU SHALL NOT COVET,” and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor ; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.” Romans 13: 8-10
4. “ For you were called to freedom, brethren ; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.” Galatians 5: 13-14
5. “But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.” 1 john 3;17-18
6. “If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar ; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.” 1 John 4; 20-21
7. “Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love ; give preference to one another in honor ; not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord ; rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. ” Romans 12: 9-14
8. “Let all that you do be done in love.” 1 Corinthians 16: 14
9. “ So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience ; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone ; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. Colossians 3:12-14
10. “ And may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another, and for all people, just as we also do for you; so that He may establish your hearts without blame in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints.” 1 Thess. 3:12-13
11. “ And let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds,” Hebrews 10:24
12. “ Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart, 1 Peter 1:22
13. “ Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins.” 1 Peter 4;8
14. “Let love of the brethren continue.” Hebrews 13:1
15. “But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.” 1Timothy 1:5
16. “So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these ?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord ; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Tend My lambs.” He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord ; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Shepherd My sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things ; You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Tend My sheep.” John 21:15-17
14 verses on Love – Part 2
1. “AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.” Mark 12:30
2. “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments…”He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.” John 14:15-21
3. ” …Abide in My love. “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love ; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.” John 15:9b-10
4. “Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome 1 John 5:1-3
5. “And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments.” 2 John 1:6
6. “The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.” 1 John 2: 4-6
7. “If anyone does not love the Lord, he is to be accursed.” 1 Corinthians 16:22
8. “Wherefore I urge you to reaffirm your love for him.” 2 Corinthians 2:8
9 “Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” 1 John 2: 15
10. “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” Luke 16:13
11. “But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.” Jude 1: 20
12. “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children ; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.” Ephesians 5:1-2
13. “Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with incorruptible love.” Ephesians 6:24
14. “May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the steadfastness of Christ.” 2 Thess. 3:5
15. “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28
14 verses about Love – Part 1
1. “God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.” 1 John 4:16
2. “Who will separate us from the love of Christ ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword ? Just as it is written, “FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED.” But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:35-39
3. “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8
4. “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13
5. “Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you;” John 15: 9a
6. “ We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” 1John 3:16
7. “ And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved ), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith ; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;” Ephesians 2:1-8
8. “For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” Titus 3:3-7
9. “By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” 1 John 4: 9-11
10. “Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him” Ephesians 1:4-9
11. “See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.” 1John 3:1
12. “So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith ; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.” Eph 3:17-19
13. “but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance ; and perseverance, proven character ; and proven character, hope ; 5 and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” Romans 5:3-5
14. “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.” 2 Corinthians 13:14
Blooms of Grace
Evening Primrose is a beautiful flower with a very interesting characteristic…it only blooms at night. I was recently blessed to witness this event one beautiful, albeit hot, summer evening. In the dusk of the evening, I watched with excitement each bud slowly open, layer by layer, into a full and vibrant yellow blossom. Each of us in attendance at the event tried to guess which one would open next. We then watched with amazement as the flowery scent attracted a hummingbird thirsty for the sweet nectar that each bloom provided. As I watched the wonderful workings of God’s creation, I wondered, “What made that first bloom open and what was the signal for each additional bloom to open?” My mind affixed upon the order in which each bud opened and I was reminded of our Lord and a parable He told in Matthew 20 about some workers in a vineyard.
In the parable, a landowner hires workers early in the day to work his fields and offers them a fair days wage for their service to which they agree. The landowner then goes out several more times throughout the day and hires more workers paying them the same days wage as the first. In Matthew 20:12, the original workers say to the landowner at the end of the day, “These men that were hired last worked only one hour…and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work…” But to the landowner, the last worker was as valuable as the first just as the very last blooming bud of the Evening Primrose is just as beautiful to the eye and succulent to the hummingbird as the first.
I hope you will take hope in the words of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ when He says, “So the last will be first and the first will be last” (Matthew 20:16) for to Him, every Christian is valuable and receives the same inheritance no matter the order in which they bloom.
Just remember to bloom!
By Beth Drake
Originally printed in the Winter 2012 issue V5N1
5 Love Languages
What happens to love after the wedding? We all know that as times goes by we seem to lose focus of the relationship we had at the beginning with the one we love.
Tons of books are written on this subject. Television and radio talk shows deal with it, the internet is full of advice and our parents and friends have a lot of advice. Keeping love alive in our marriages is serious business. With all this help available, why is it so few couples have found the secret to keeping love alive? How can couples attend workshops or seminars on communication, hear a lot of wonderful ideas, return home, try two or three of the ideas, feel it’s not working then give up on all the other ideas they heard?
The problem is that people speak different love languages. Not everyone receives love just like you do. There are 5 emotional love languages. 5 ways people speak and understand emotional love. Once we discover the love language of our spouse and also our own, then we can begin to “communicate” love to our spouse.
We all have a need to feel love and affection and the need to sense that we belong and are wanted. Love need not evaporate after the wedding, but in order to keep it alive, most of us will have to put forth effort to learn what language our spouse is speaking.
The 5 Love Languages are:
1. Words of Affirmation
2. Quality Time
3. Receiving Gifts
4. Acts of Service
5. Physical Touch
We all have inside of us a “Love Tank”, just as our body needs food (fuel) to fill our physical needs; we need LOVE in our “Love Tank” to fill our emotional needs.
Let’s talk about our love languages.
Words of Affirmation
One way to express love is to use words that build up. In Proverbs 12:25 it says, “An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up.” Verbal compliments or words of appreciation are powerful communicators of love. Be sincere in your compliments. Don’t use verbal flattery to get what you want! “The object of love is not getting something you want, but doing something for the well being of the one you love.”
Encouraging your spouse with words of affirmation will inspire courage. We all have areas in which we feel insecure or we lack courage. You never know what a difference you could make in your spouse by just giving them some words of encouragement.
Remember to use Kind words (A soft answer turns away angrer) and Humble words (Love makes requests, not demands)!
Quality Time
Quality Time means giving someone your undivided attention! In this day and time when everything is so fast paced, with places to go and things to do, we find it hard to just stop, sit down, turn everything off and just talk to one another or take quiet walks. Focus your attention on what your spouse is saying, and you may find you don’t know them as well as you thought you did.
Quality Conversation – is a sympathetic conversation where two people are sharing their experiences, thoughts and feelings. Be a GOOD listener! Pay attention to what is being said with body language, along with the words that are being said.
Here are 5 practical tips for Quality Conversation:
1. Maintain Eye Contact
2. Don’t be doing something while listening to
your spouse
3. Listen for feelings
4. Observe body language
5. Refuse to interrupt
Receiving Gifts
Everyone loves to feel special by receiving a gift. Gifts are visual symbol of love. Visual symbols of love are more important to some people than to others. Gifts can come in all sizes, colors and shapes. They can be made, found or purchased. They do not have to be given only on special occasions. Don’t forget the gift of SELF. Sometimes this gift speaks more loudly than a gift that can be held in your hand.
Acts of Service
Acts of service is doing things you know your spouse would like, without them asking. You seek to please them by serving them. This does not mean you have to become your spouse’s slave, but when you do thoughtful things to help them out, you are communicating your love to them.
Physical Touch
Physical Touch is probably the most well known way of communicating love to one another; such as holding hands, kissing, embracing and intimacy. For some people this is their primary Love Language and without it they feel unloved. Physical touch can make or break a relationship. It can communicate Hate or Love. Sometimes it’s as small as a touch on the shoulder or a kiss on the cheek as you leave the room. This communicates to them that you are thinking of them.
Love is a choice, and we need to make the choice that we are going to learn how to communicate with our spouses that we love them above all others.
I encourage all of us to start learning how to love our spouses and make our marriages what GOD intended them to be.
You can take a profile test to see what yours and your spouse’s Love Language is at:
By Kathy Robertson (Adapted from the book)
Originally printed in the Winter 2012 issue V5N1