home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
CD ROM Paradise Collection 4
/
CD ROM Paradise Collection 4 1995 Nov.iso
/
edu
/
estm41.zip
/
13.DOC
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1995-07-23
|
8KB
|
141 lines
CHAPTER 13
LOVE
Introduction
The barnacle, a relative of the shrimp,
starts life as one of 10,000 microscopic eggs. It
grows into a tiny crablike organism, and after
about four weeks of floating around it decides to
give up life as a drifter and settle down for
good.
The National geographic Society provides some
interesting facts abut the barnacle. The Society
calls the barnacle the "world's most solid
citizen" because once it settles down for life
nothing can move it. Man cannot begin to match the
strength of the glue God gave this lowly marine
life. Homemade glue from barnacles is the world's
strongest, with a shear strength of more than
7,000 pounds per square inch. That is twice the
holding power of epoxy glues that help hold a
spacecraft together.
The crusty barnacle sticks so solidly to
ship's bottoms that it takes a jackhammer or sand-
blaster to knock it loose. Even then, barnacles
may pull shreds of steel hull plates with them.
Barnacle adhesive softens but still holds firm at
temperatures above the melting point of lead, 620
degrees Fahrenheit. At 283 degrees below zero it
does not crack or peel. ("Thought for the Month:
Barnacles and Watermelons," CHRISTIAN BATTLE PLAN,
March, 1974).
Just as God made this marvelous natural glue, so he made a
"glue" for human relationships: LOVE.
C. S. Lewis writes of four loves, three human and one
divine. (C. S. Lewis, THE FOUR LOVES (New York: Harcourt,
Brace and Co., 1960), passim). The English word LOVE is an
"umbrella" term, translating four Greek words.
The Three Human Loves
EROS is sexual, romantic, and self-directed love. It is
not found in the New Testament. Perhaps it is because EROS
was a Greek God with a bad reputation. However, the concept
of sexual or romantic love is biblical and good in the con-
text of marriage.
PHILIA is love for a friend. The word is found in the
New Testament. God made human beings to be social beings. A
related Greek word, KOINONIA, is translated "fellowship" or
"communion" in the King James Version. (Young, YOUNG'S CON-
CORDANCE, s.v., "Fellowship"). It includes one's relation-
ship with God as well as the Christian relationship between
believers.
STORGE is family love, which includes affection and
maternal instinct. The word is found in classical Greek but
not in the New Testament. However, the concept of family
love certainly is found in the New Testament. God instituted
the family. Family love is weakening today, but there is a
strong Christian movement to strengthen family ties in the
United States.
The importance of affection for developing infants has
been scientifically demonstrated by Rene Spitz' study of a
foundling home in South America. Ninety-seven babies ranging
from three months to three years were given adequate food,
clothing and medical care. However, due to lack of person-
nel, the nurses could not give the babies the affection that
they needed. Within three months, bad symptoms began to de-
velop. Within five months, "Most of the babies became
shrunken beyond recognition." In their first year of life,
twenty-seven children died; seven more in their second year.
The twenty-one who remained in the institution were classi-
fied as "hopeless neurotics or worse." [Smiley Blanton,
M.D., LOVE OR PERISH (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1956),
pp. 39-40]. [Rene A. Spitz, MD and W. Godfrey Cobliner,
THE FIRST YEAR OF LIFE (New York: International Universities
Press, Inc., 1965), pp. 27-31; 277-284].
Why the deterioration in human love? The answer lies
in the human race being deprived of the Holy Spirit, which
then leads to depravity. However, when the Holy Spirit
introduces AGAPE into an individual, the human loves are
brought into full strength and in balance.
The Love of God
AGAPE was a relatively colorless Greek word that the
writers of the New Testament adopted and infused with new
meaning. AGAPE may be defined as "that God-given motivation
which seeks the best for the beloved on the highest moral
plane." (This definition was adapted from Robert Cummings'
lecture at Central Bible College, Springfield, Mo, ca.
1959). The Hebrew Old Testament counterpart HESED can be
defined as "a loyal covenant-keeping love." ["Divorce and
Remarriage," (Springfield, MO: The General Council of the
Assemblies of God, August 21, 1973). (Pamphlet)].
AGAPE is not altruism. Altruism is a human substitute
for AGAPE. Altruism is the giving of one's time for a high
and worthy human cause--but why does one do this? One prob-
ably does this to reap internal rewards or to balance a con-
science gone into the red. If so, then altruism is disguised
EROS--a self-directed love!
AGAPE is a concomitant of the Holy Spirit. It is not a
human-generated quality, nor is it an abstract quality.
Its source is God alone:
He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is
love. (1 John 4:8).
Only through the new birth and the indwelling Holy Spirit is
one enabled to love as God does.
Talk is cheap, but God proved his love to the world by
giving his Son, his most prized treasure. The roots of his
love can be traced back into the Old Testament in his deal-
ings with Israel. However, the highest expression of his
love is captured in this cherished verse:
For God so loved the world, that he gave his
only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but have everlasting life.
(John 3:16).
What is the implication for the believer's self-esteem in
this fact? By the act of God loving the believer, the
believer is declared worthy by God himself. Since God is
the ultimate authority, the believer has no choice in the
matter if he is going to align himself with God: he must
love himself as God loves him!
ASSIGNMENT: CONFESS ALOUD BEFORE OTHER FRIENDS, "GOD
LOVES ME, [INSERT YOUR NAME]." YOUR CONFESSION WILL MAKE
THIS TRUTH MORE PERSONAL AND IT WILL REGISTER ON A DEEPER
LEVEL OF YOUR PERSONALITY. Self-esteem will rise.
END