Tuesday, October 14, 2008

O is For...OH WOW!

What is GOD? Many people these days ask it, but does anyone know the truth? Well, a lot of religious people see GOD and Christians as love, but what kind of love?


The Bible describes both Agape love and Phileo love, but I'm going to throw in Eros love as well, even though Eros is never mentioned in the Bible. I'm going to split the blog into three parts, spending a little time talking about each type.



Eros: Love for Your Other Half

The only type of love that isn't directly mentioned in the New Testament. This is more for the couples out there than anyone else. How does GOD like us expressing this type of love to one another, according to the Bible? Relationships these days are very "touchy feely". Most couples, especially teenagers, try to think about how far they can go, without crossing the boundary of too far.


Listen up Christians couples!! I'm about to answer that question for you right now!


If you and your "person of alternate interest" are asking this question, chances are, you want to go as far as possible before sex. This is a bad way to think of it. Instead of asking, "How far can I go before it's too far?", most couples need to ask "How far away can I be from that stuff before I know I'm not breaking any rules or boundaries?".


GOD knew exactly what we were going to try when he created us. Try not to fall off the pedestal he gave us. If you have, it still isn't too late to ask for forgiveness, it's never too late. Respect your boyfriend or girlfriend, and GOD will bless you through it.



Phileo: Love for Your Neighbor

If you are a christian, you know that this is almost a given. If you aren't, I'm going to give you a little refresher.


Matthew 22: 37He said to him, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. 38This is the greatest and first commandment. 39And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' 40On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."


I really can't go into much more detail than that. This means that we must have tolerance. Every single person reading this is saying in there head "Darn it!" because they know that there is that one specific person who you really can't stand. According to this passage, you have to love them, even if they annoy you to the n'th degree. They are a soul just like you, and GOD made us all to where we at least need to be loved.


Some great ways to spread this is just by being nice: sitting beside the kid at lunch who is all alone, buy the person behind you in a fast food line lunch, give someone a gift anonymously. There are many ways to show that we love our fellow man, and GOD will grant you the tolerance for it.



Agape: Love for Our Creator

The sad thing is, this is the least popular love in the world. The greatest commandment, the key to life, the happiness that made the world whole, and about 70% of the world don't even know him.


GOD made us all so that we can love him. This is the top reason to get you into heaven. If you don't express love for GOD, you are not going to heaven, plain and simple. That may be harsh, but the first step to being religious is to realize that it isn't always giggles and lollipops.


On a lighter side, GOD makes this a fairly easy thing to accomplish. Satan is the one that tries to tear this apart. In order to achieve this love fully, all you must do is accept him into your life, and obey his teachings that are given to us in his holy word, The Bible.


Now I could rant for days and days about this, but the best thing I can tell anyone reading this to do is to open up the New Testament, and just start reading. He was a great man, and he's an even better spirit.

If you are a rising Christian reading this, all this seems like a lot of work and patience, and it is, but in the end, it is SO worth it!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

John 14:6-8


There are no steps to getting into heaven. There is only one step: salvation. Christianity is not about a series of steps on how to be a good Christian. I would hate to be considered "religious." I am a Christ Follower.


We need to take the focus off of having an amazing Bible study, and be a part of what God has called us to do: tend to the flocks, and rescue the lost. The biggest mistake we can make is to focus on using Church as a place to make us feel better about ourselves.
Church is not just for the Churched. Church is for the lost and Un-churched. There is a need for urgency in rescuing the lost.

JFX said...

So wait, are you agreeing or disagreeing with the blog?

Anonymous said...

I'm saying you need to be careful with saying things like, "this is the top reason you get into heaven" because it makes it sound like you think there are a series of steps that we need to take to get into heaven. That is not the way we need to look at it. Being religious is not what Christianity is about. It's so much more than that... It's a relationship.

JFX said...

well it does say this is the greatest commandment, its not my opinion, its biblical

Anonymous said...

Love for God, Love for your neighbor. It IS one of the Ten Commandments, but what is the penalty for causing one of God's children to stumble? Mathew 18:6 That's a very serious commandment. Love for God and serving is vital, but when we receive salvation, our actions should reflect this change in our hearts. That's when we are called to rescue the lost sheep. It's our responsibility

JFX said...

So by saying what is in the Bible to people is causing someone to stumble?