There was a thread like this

[theculturewarrior]

What is love?

[azaelia]

"Love is passion, obsession, someone you can't live without. If you don't start with that, what are you going to end up with? Fall head over heels. I say find someone you can love like crazy and who'll love you the same way back. And how do you find him? Forget your head and listen to your heart. I'm not hearing any heart. Run the risk, if you get hurt, you'll come back. Because, the truth is there is no sense living your life without this. To make the journey and not fall deeply in love - well, you haven't lived a life at all. You have to try. Because if you haven't tried, you haven't lived."

- Meet Joe Black

[zealousrap]

love is a verb
God is Love
The Holy Spirit is the band of love that unites the Father and the Son.

Edited February 27, 2005 by zealousrap

[theculturewarrior]

^ To Zaelie.

The thing is...that view of love also comes with disallusionment.

[azaelia]

Love is wanting someone else's happiness more than your own.

[theculturewarrior]

What if I want somebody's happiness as much as my own?

[azaelia]

Love is selfless. Love expects nothing in return.

[theculturewarrior]

There's this girl I used to talk to....I really wanted her to be happy!

[picchick]

Love is patient
Love is kind....

Love is wanting to please someone else more than please yourself. Love is being ready and willing to lay down your life for the other person. Jesus is a picture of love

[azaelia]

Are you asking what love is...or how you know if you're in it?

[theculturewarrior]

[quote name='azaelia' date='Feb 27 2005, 02:54 PM'] Love is selfless. Love expects nothing in return. [/quote]
It's noble, when giving yourself, to give your life with a purity of intention, with no ulterior motives, liberated from the desire to be loved.

But is the desire to be loved bad? It would seem that it was created by God.

When Jesus says, "Love thy neighbor as thyself," doesn't that require you to love yourself also?

What is the greater good? One happy person or two?

[theculturewarrior]

[quote name='azaelia' date='Feb 27 2005, 02:59 PM'] Are you asking what love is...or how you know if you're in it? [/quote]
I'm not coming on to you if that's what you're asking.



























Unless you want me to.






















I know.

[azaelia]

[quote name='theculturewarrior' date='Feb 27 2005, 03:59 PM'] But is the desire to be loved bad? It would seem that it was created by God. [/quote]
No, it's not bad.

[quote]When Jesus says, "Love thy neighbor as thyself," doesn't that require you to love yourself also?[/quote]

It requires you to love yourself as a creation and child of God...not in vanity or self-servedness.

[quote]What is the greater good? One happy person or two?[/quote]

In love, another's happiness brings about our own happiness. One would hope that this goes both ways, and in a healthy relationship it should.

[azaelia]

[quote name='theculturewarrior' date='Feb 27 2005, 04:02 PM'] I'm not coming on to you if that's what you're asking.

Unless you want me to.

I know. [/quote]

[Theoketos]

Philosophically speaking Human Love is an act of the will that takes a total gift of the self.

[theculturewarrior]

[quote name='azaelia' date='Feb 27 2005, 03:03 PM'] It requires you to love yourself as a creation and child of God...not in vanity or self-servedness. [/quote]
But is loving myself as much as somebody else vain and self-serving?

Suppose your on a desert island. You and your husband are down to your last coconut, and the tree has died. Would you say, "no, you have it," and would he then argue the point? "No snookums, you have it."

"But Thurston, I just ate a seagull three days ago."

If it were me, I'd just split it both ways.

[argent_paladin]

I remember this great lecture on love in Scripture. He said that there were three stages of love that Christ called us to, each more difficult than the last.

1. Love your neighbor as yourself. (Mat. 22:39)
2. Love one another as you love Christ. (Mat 25:34-45)
3. Love one another as Christ loves you. (Eph. 5:1)

The first is common among other cultures and traditions and it fairly easy, since we can at least gauge how much we love ourself or place ourself in the shoes of another.
The second is harder but also easy to understand. We simply see Christ in everyone and treat all like we would treat Christ.
The final one is mindblowing as it calls us to put ourselves in Christ's place. Christ participated in our creation as the Divine Logos. He became incarnate for us. He suffered and died on the cross because he loved us.

Though not as famous as the other John 3:16, I John 3:16 is beautiful:
" This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. "

[God Conquers]

Willing the good of another.