"loving" Vs "being In Love With" Jesus?

[MarysLittleFlower]

[quote name='CherieMadame' timestamp='1325555409' post='2362028']
I would be very curious to see these Protestant articles! What they say is definitely not the Catholic thought or perspective on the issue! I admit, I'm a bit surprised that some Protestants would be so far off base on this, but then again, I don't have a Protestant background, so maybe it's a common perspective for them. I wonder why they think that way?
[/quote]

I know several Protestants who don't have a problem with this at all, so I think it's not all Protestants, - it varies... there are many Protestant worship songs that talk about being in love with Jesus. The articles I found were written by the Protestants who do disagree with this sort of imagery. I think they were mostly criticizing the song lyrics used in today's evangelical churches... another argument they use is that it's not Biblical, and another is that we should go beyond being "in love with" Jesus and actually loving Him. Of course, with the last point, I agree - as I agree with Rich Mullins when he said that we should truly love God not just be "infatuated". Another criticism found in the articles is that we shouldn't look at Jesus as a "boyfriend", etc, and of course that's limiting Him and it's not how the Catholic Saints spoke of Him...... maybe the reason why this comes up is because of the language that is used in some evangelical songs. In the writings of the Catholic Saints who spoke of Christ as their "Beloved", it doesn't come across that way at all, it's deeper and it's never forgotten that we should really love God in a true "agape" selfless way.

If you are interested, here are a couple of the articles...
[url="http://twog.wordpress.com/2007/09/24/i-am-not-in-love-with-jesus/"]http://twog.wordpres...ove-with-jesus/[/url]
[url="http://www.internetmonk.com/articles/I/inlove.html"]http://www.internetm...s/I/inlove.html[/url] (about the second one, I think it goes more into the theological points... I do think the perspective is maybe more Protestant than Catholic. Even though the blog is called "internet monk", - I read on the website that the author was Protestant: [url="http://www.internetmonk.com/michael-spencers-bio"]http://www.internetm...el-spencers-bio[/url] I do like how he tried going deeper into his faith and wanted more historical Christianity than the evangelical movement. Regarding this particular article, it does seem to show a more Protestant understanding, also in parts he critiques what is particular to evangelical worship and it doesn't really apply to Catholic spirituality as much).

Edited January 3, 2012 by MarysLittleFlower

[MarysLittleFlower]

(Sorry another post lol)

I linked this article above.. [url="http://twog.wordpress.com/2007/09/24/i-am-not-in-love-with-jesus/"]http://twog.wordpres...ove-with-jesus/[/url]
I was wondering what you all think of it. I don't mean the worship songs, since they are evangelical songs mostly. I mean the whole point of view that he's describing.

What caused me to be confused is this.. in this blog post, and in the comments section, - it says that being "In love with Jesus" is something - impure, sexual, etc. I know if someone actually has impure thoughts about Our Lord, that's a temptation. But can a person still be "in love with" Jesus but in a pure chaste way?? Or is it as they say in this article? This actually really confused me... now when I feel like I love God, I can't figure out if I should feel that way or not. How do we tell if it's appropriate or something is wrong? If there's nothing impure, but we do experience 'consolations' (to use the spiritual term) thinking about Christ or being near Him, or if we want to just be near Him or hug Him or talk to Him - is that wrong and is it still pure? what if we feel something emotionally? is our love for God not supposed to be emotional at all and shouldn't relate to Christ's human nature? Sorry if this question is so direct. I dont know how else to put it. I am really determined to live chastely and also I want my relationship with Christ to be pure and loving. I know the devil can tempt to impure thoughts and unfortunately I know that from experience. But if there's nothing impure in our thoughts or feelings, but our love for Christ is still something that sort of feels like "being in love", - is this incorrect like the article says?

Hopefully this makes sense! I wanted to ask here cause I know there are people here who are more formed spiritually than myself.

Edited January 3, 2012 by MarysLittleFlower

[Nunsense]

I think when we start worrying about 'how' we love Jesus, then we are just letting the Devil get in the way. Just love Him. If you feel romantic love, feel it as long as it lasts. If you feel devotional love, feel that. If you feel like His sister, feel that. If you feel like his spouse, feel that. Everything changes as we deepen and mature in our faith. To spend all our time worrying means that we aren't spending that time loving.

Can our passions get involved? Sure, even St John of the Cross said that. And St Teresa said that even though her ecstasies weren't physical, they did affect the body as well - because we are human beings! Not robots.

But if we accept whatever graces God gives us we can allow Him to shape and guide our love for Him. Many of the saints started out with a very immature romantic love, but from their lives, we can see that this matured over time to the point where they were able to respond to whatever He gave them with a deep and abiding trust in Him.

The last thing we need is scruples about 'how' we love Him. We just need to love Him.

[MithLuin]

Fair enough. And if we are stagnating or straying from how we 'should' be doing things, then it's up to our spiritual director to call us on that and to challenge us to grow.

For instance, if the reason we think of Jesus as our brother is because we are afraid of intimacy with him, or allowing him more fully into our lives...then, yes, maybe that needs to change. But that doesn't mean it's bad to see Jesus as our brother! It means, like anything, we can have human failings that are getting in the way.

Of course, I chose that example because a priest called me on that once.


And in the interest of full disclosure...I should point out that Rich Mullins was Protestant (though very enamored of St. Francis of Assisi), and gave those remarks at a concert in Texas.

[SNJM]

I think there are many different levels and stages of "love" and I am not sure any of us can define it for someone else, let alone ourselves. Sometimes "love" might feel romantic, and this can happen in any relationship, and often times it passes. Sometimes people "jump the gun" and act on their romantic feelings, only to find later that it was a "passing fancy". I have learned, within my own life and spiritual work, that our current society is often very determined to come up with a "name" or a "label" for everything we feel/experience. Sometimes love cannot be defined, though we know it is there. My two cents.

[heather]

This is 8 yrs late but be careful, I tried loving Jesus my own way, as my Husband. When I fell madly in love with Jesus, I met Him in spirit. He knocked and I opened the door. 

After some time, I began having dreams telling me not to and this was not Jesus but the enemy. I had so much opposition to loving Him as a husband but I held on until I had to let go after I had a very serious spiritual chastisement happen to me.

As a Christian Mystic, I was convinced this divine love was ok but afterwards, there's a feeling that relating to Him this way is of the flesh and I must let go of  the old man, even though it's not lust-driven but true love. 

Now I don't know Who is Who because after I reconnected with God again as lover of my soul, another God voice came and told me not to.  And since then I have seen the demonic realm as well as the good times with Him. 

 Sooooo.... Who is Who? I'm not crazy. These are supernatural experiences. But there is only ONE true God.

Jesus will spit the lukewarm out of His mouth, but to be on fire for Him can be heartbreaking, when doubt enters the picture... and if you are sane, it will.

Has anyone had any opposition in their romantic love for Jesus or was it only me?
 

[Nunsuch]

You just posted the identical query elsewhere. You are not going to get anything else by reviving a thread that is over 8 years old. Seriously, this forum is really not the place for the kind of advice that we all think you need!

[Guest]

Agape rather than Eros, although I think agape love can contain something of the other types of love.  Until and if one experiences that state of human existence that asks total unconditional (agape) love of The Beloved - wherein love is purified.

https://www.catholic.com/qa/how-does-the-church-define-love

 

On 1/4/2012 at 11:18 AM, AccountDeleted said:

I think when we start worrying about 'how' we love Jesus, then we are just letting the Devil get in the way. Just love Him. If you feel romantic love, feel it as long as it lasts. If you feel devotional love, feel that. If you feel like His sister, feel that. If you feel like his spouse, feel that. Everything changes as we deepen and mature in our faith. To spend all our time worrying means that we aren't spending that time loving.

Can our passions get involved? Sure, even St John of the Cross said that. And St Teresa said that even though her ecstasies weren't physical, they did affect the body as well - because we are human beings! Not robots.

But if we accept whatever graces God gives us we can allow Him to shape and guide our love for Him. Many of the saints started out with a very immature romantic love, but from their lives, we can see that this matured over time to the point where they were able to respond to whatever He gave them with a deep and abiding trust in Him.

The last thing we need is scruples about 'how' we love Him. We just need to love Him.

Well said

[Feankie]

Okay, this is getting strange! Heather, you don't need to post your inquiry in 2 different  topic sections of the Vocation Station. I'm not sure what you're trying to do here, but I have an inkling.  It is not appropriate and the answers are not to be found here, rather they should be explored with a competent counselor.