What is love? Some of us view love as an emotion and often confuse love with lust or obsession. But love is more than an emotion. It is the nature and essence of God. 1 John 4:8 tells us that the one who does not love does not know God for God is love (paraphrased). God's love far surpasses what we consider to be love, because He sent His only begotten Son to die for sinful man.
Here is the power of love. It is love that redeemed us to God. Through Jesus, God looked beyond our faults and saw our need for redemption. It was this love that caused Jesus to sacrifice His life for us and renew our relationship with God, the Father. This is love being a powerful force, bringing immense joy and transformation. But love can also be dangerous if it is not guided by truth, respect, and boundaries.
Danger # 1 – Pride
When Adam and Eve were created (Genesis 1:27-28), God gave them control over everything. But when they submitted to the lures of the serpent and ate of the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, God said the man would rule over the woman, but she would still desire her husband (Gensis 3:16). It was Adam’s love for Eve that caused him to submit and partake of the fruit, and this resulted in them being cast out of the Garden of Eden. Adam did not consider, his helpmeet, the woman God gave him for companionship and to support him in fulfilling his God-given mandate to be the one to cause him to fall into sin. Adam’s love for Eve caused him to not think evil concerning her (1 Corinthians 13:5) and so he conceded and sinned against God.
Likewise, Abram, who saw the LORD in a vision where he asked the LORD if it would be his servant that would be his heir, and God told him that his heir would come from his own bowels and his seed would be as innumerable as the stars (Gensis 15:4-6). This same Abram’s love for his wife, Sarai caused him to heed her words to impregnate Hagar, Sarai’s maidservant. Remember God told Abram, his seed would be as innumerable as the stars and because Abram believed God this was counted unto him for righteousness, yet he submitted to the flesh.
Sometimes we allow our emotions to lead us without considering if what we are about to do will be pleasing to God. How often do we even consult God before making the next move instead of allowing obsession and lust to lead. Like Adam, Abram did not consider Sarai to be acting selfishly, but both men should have done what God instructed them to do. If we truly love God, we would be more focused on obeying Him than pleasing man. Neither Adam nor Abram wanted their wives to think they did not love them, so they heeded to their words.
Danger # 2 – Jealousy & Envy
When Isaac and Rebekah had Esau and Jacob, Isaac loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob (Genesis 25:28). As the story continues in Genesis 25:29-34, Esau sold his birthright for food. Now Esau’s birthright was his honor for being the firstborn and would allow him to receive double; portion of the family’s inheritance and be the next leader of the family. Jacob’s jealousy caused him to take advantage of Esau’s hunger and would not give his brother the food unless he swore to give him his birthright. Esau traded his inheritance for temporary pleasure. Many of us, before we accepted salvation’s call, were happy with the temporary pleasures of sin and some, like Lot’s wife, still linger in our thoughts about what we had. Like the children of Israel in Egyptian bondage who enjoyed the leeks, onions and cucumbers that they did not even consider their freedom when they met difficulty in the wilderness.
The story of Esau and Jacob continues in Genesis 27 where Rebekah heard Isaac telling Esau to prepare his special meal and bring to him so he could bless him before he died. Rebekah conspired with Jacob and they both deceived Isaac. Rebekah’s love for Jacob caused her to even say if a curse should fall on Jacob, she would bare it (Genesis 27:13).
This same pattern of jealousy and envy was evident with Joseph and his brothers (Genesis 37:4). Jacob loved Joseph more than his brothers and they hated him. Their hatred from jealous envy caused them to sell Joseph into slavery. Unknown to them, the reason they hated him – the dreams he told them, would later happen. In the fullness of time and by God’s design, Joseph’s brothers bowed to him as he had dreamed, and he told them what they meant for evil God meant for good (Genesis 50:20).
Danger # 3 – Arrogance & Rudeness
The story is told in Genesis 34 of Jacob’s daughter, Dinah who Shechem “loved” but was more obsession than love. If Shechem truly loved Dinah he would not allow his lustful passion to cause him to violate her by raping her but would instead do what was right aby asking for her hand in marriage and paying the dowry. Shechem’s actions also failed to respect boundaries. In the end a chain reaction followed because Levi and Simeon, Dinah’s brothers, sought justice for Shechem’s violation of their sister. Levi and Simeon lied, stole, and murdered in revenge for their sister’s honour. As a result, instead of receiving a blessing from their father, Jacob, he cursed their cruelty.
To conclude, when we truly love, we will seek to bring joy and transformation. We will seek to empower others and encourage them to emulate the God kind of love. In so doing, we will not belittle ourselves or others. We will not be jealous or envious of others, but instead we will be zealous and enthusiastic to display the godly characteristic we see in others. When we truly love, pride and self-centeredness will not be the order of the day because we will remember that God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6). When we truly love, we will not be rude or arrogant, feeling like we are more important than others. Remember Haman thought he was more important than Mordecai, the Jew. When we truly love we will respect each other boundaries. So let us love with God’s agape love that redeemed us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).
Further Study 1 Corinthians 13, The book of Genesis, Romans 5:8
This piece was written and contributed by our PAJE Writer! Remember to show your support by liking, sharing and commenting!
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