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False Expectations (About Love) 2/11/2005 8:59:40 AM
From a former article I wrote for a seminar
I thought a compilation of some excerpts from a couple of former articles I wrote, would be interesting. I wrote a lesson for a Bible study group on love some years ago and another about poets and love poems. I have seen that so many of us have misconceptions of what love is.
Because there are so many facets to it we get confused as to just what it really is. I also believe this world is on a short fuse and we'd better start remembering what love is all about! I just scratch the surface , but it's enough to give you some things to ponder. At least I hope it is;-).
I'm sure you know most of this already, but it never hurts to examine love, it's so interesting;-) I can't list every name in the sub-group that is an article in itself, so I just did the main ones.
~~~~~~~~~~
Two main roots of love are ~ Agape-Eros ~ from those
we get sub-groups:
Agape...Also connected to:
Christian rite of communion
Jewish Bar Mitzvah
Some Moslem holy days
and other religious rituals
Agape is also wonderment
~~~~
EROS = Sexual love
1. Amatory...Disposed toward sexual love
2. Amour...an affair, but used to describe illicit love
3.Erotic...sexual love~mostly sensual~also obscene
pornagraphic etc.
Of course there are many facets and degrees to both
Agape and Eros , but I have listed their classical
definitions.
This isn't a complete list I'm sure you know of more.
Lust=Desire...carnality~sex~voracity~ avarice~ and greed etc
I mention it, because we have connected it to love.
The reason we link lust to love, in my opinion, is because we confuse the desire part. Our desires are aroused by someone we love and that is the way it should be, but if it consumes us then we have crossed the line from desire to lust.
Methinks, that we have grossly confused love for something else. It goes something like this...we become attracted to someone..whether it is physical or otherwise...we get deeply involved...sometimes it is love, but true love is not bitter, unkind, and self-seeking, so it can be controlled. However, if it can't be then it is not love, it is obsesssion!
I believe most of us have been in obsession more than we ever have in love...but that's just my opinion;-) It is where most of the "lost love" poems come from, because our obsession will not allow us to release it. It is like possesion. So, when I ask "what is love" I have a pretty good idea what it is, but like everyone else, knowing how to deal with it, is a whole nother story;-)!
I believe lust in the form of desire, is a part of how we become attracted, and fall in love with someone. As I said, it is when desire becomes lust that we lose it. I think the Bible which I have studied for thirty years, and taught, must be taken as a whole, and more importantly, can only be inerpreted if God opens our understanding.;-) Also , it is always good to broaden our knowledge with books of concordances ,commentaries, apologetics...and other religions etc.
If we take only what the Bible says of love in its agape form then we are leaving out a whole range of other emotions linked to love that are intrinsic between man and woman. This is part of the old fashioned sexual -hang-ups of other era's, that is too lengthy to go into.
Learning about love should not be derived from only one source. If you read books to help you understand love better, make sure you first have a foundation. The basis of love is found in books of the bible, as well other well established authors on the subject in many secular books that deal with the topic. A variety of books should be read.
Love is simple if we use a simple premise, but we do not. One simple thing is that true love in it's best form is biblical in that it does not wish to hurt,for as I already said before, it is not self-seeking, and holds to the principle of it being better to give than to receive. This of course is not easy, it takes humility, and a kind of turning the other cheek, that's why you seldom find as many good marriages or relationships as bad ones.
Love is a blessing and if we truly find it ,then we should be wise enough to do all we know, to keep it alive and well.
