3 Solutions To Any Problem: Part 3

But the greatest of these is love.
So, what exactly is love and what is so great about it? How can it help me solve problems in life? First of all, I must address that we are seriously misled about this topic. From the entertainment industry we are led to believe that love is that fuzzy feeling you get when you are around someone that causes your stomach to be in knots and your palms to sweat. We are taught that love is full of romance and happiness and that when these feelings go away we do not love that person anymore and should end the relationship. These are all lies that Satan has deceived us with. Actually, love is a choice to treat someone in a loving way. There are different kinds of love. Eros love is purely sexual. This is the kind of love we see in the movies. Phileo love is a friendship. Agape love is the kind of love that God has for us and wants us to have for each other. Agape love is unconditional love. Which means there are no rules, no score kept and no way to lose this kind of love. God loves us even when we hurt him and He probably doesn’t really feel like loving us, but He still does because love is a choice, not a feeling. “And over all these virtues, put on love, which binds them [compassion, humility, gentleness, patience, and forgiveness] all together in perfect unity,” (Colossians 3:14). Love is what ties all other good things together. It is something we “put on” which is an action. It is something you do. So, when you know that love is an attitude in which you choose to have, then it is easier to understand how you can love people in different situations as the Bible tells us to.
When faced with a problem, what is so great about love that it can help us? Proverbs 10:12 says, “Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers over all wrongs.” No matter how you have been hurt or have hurt someone else, choosing to love can make things right. “The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing,” (Zephaniah 3:17). Love calms your spirit and quiets you down. 1 Thessalonians 1:3 reminds us to “put on faith and love as a breastplate.” Love is part of the armor we need to fight in the spiritual battles we face every day. Love helps us defeat Satan. That is why we are told to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. 1 John 4:18 tells us that, “there is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” Perfect love drives out fears and helps us not to be afraid of anything because we trust the one who has that perfect love: God.
Now that we understand what love is and how it can help us, we must figure out where this love comes from. “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God,” (1 John 4:7). All real love comes from God. We cannot possibly love anyone the right way without God’s help. The way that we receive his love is by first loving Him. He then fills us with His love, through the Holy Spirit, which enables us to love others. “And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us,” (Romans 5:5). Love is the first “fruit of the [Holy] Spirit” mentioned in the Bible. Ephesians 3:19 explains, “and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” When we know the love of God, we are filled up. We then have so much love inside that it spills out to other people. “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another, “ (John 13:34). Being loved by God teaches us how to love others as ourselves and to put others first. God sets the example for us by how He loves us. “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends,” (John 15:13). Jesus Christ came to earth and gave up his life for each of us. There is no greater love than this. We are to lay down our lives for those we love.
So, maybe you already know that you are to love others, but you are having a hard time actually doing that. We have already discussed that love comes from God, but how can I obtain love from God and pass it on to others? The first step is to have faith in God. To believe that He does love you unconditionally. Many people have a hard time believing that God loves them with no strings attached. The psalmist said, “Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me!” He doesn’t want but one very simple thing in return from you. All he wants is for you to love Him in return. Deutoronomy 6:5 says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” When you seek to love God, he will help you to be able to love others. So, if you having problems loving someone, or showing them love, first seek God and His love. The more you are filled with the love of God, the easier it will be for you to love others. Since the Bible tells us that “God is love”. The only way to find true love is to find God. The Bible says in Jeremiah 29:13, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Isn’t it ironic that when we refer to love, we draw hearts and when we are hurt by someone we say that we have a broken heart? When really we need to seek God instead. There are so many verses in the Bible that refer to God’s unfailing love. He will never break your heart. I think we have it all mixed up. First, we try to love someone and establish a relationship with them, then when that doesn’t work out or we are disappointed, we go to God in prayer or Bible study. But what we actually need to do first is to seek God. “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, then all these things will be given to you.” We all yearn to be loved, but we will never find the love we long for until we find God first. Then He will develop within you patience, kindness, forgiveness, and compassion. Those qualities that are essential to loving someone unconditionally. We must stop dwelling on how others have hurt us and instead concentrate on how we can love others more. We need to thank God for his love and praise him that His love never fails us. Not a single person on this planet can claim they are unloved. God loves each and every one of us, and his love is able to overshadow others humanness. I leave you with words from a worship song, “Think about his love. Think about his goodness. Think about the storms he’s brought us through. For as high as the heavens above. So great is the measure of our Father’s love. Great is the measure of our Father’s love.” But the greatest of these [really] is love.