Why Love Is a Choice, Not an Emotion

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This address, as in , introduces the summing up of the section. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. I can choose not to walk off and leave her when we get to church, the way I use to. This is not the case.

For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. This is not a valid email, please try again. The most familiar of Bible verses, 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.

Why Love Is a Choice, Not an Emotion

Repeatedly throughout the Bible, God commands His people to love Him with all their hearts and serve Him alone Deuteronomy 6:5; 11:1; Joshua 23:11. But can love be commanded? How can we make ourselves love someone? Since love is commanded, then it must be within our power, in Christ, to love. Love, therefore, is a decision we make. Yes, love will often be accompanied by feelings, but emotion is not the basis of love. In any given situation, we can choose to love, regardless of how we feel. He has placed His capacity to love within our hearts. He then teaches us how to love by demonstrating what real love looks like John 15:13. Loving God begins with a decision. It is a purposeful setting of our affections Colossians 3:2. We cannot truly love God until we know Him. Even the faith to believe in God is a gift from Him Ephesians 2:8—9. When we accept His gift of eternal life through Christ, God gives us His Holy Spirit Luke 11:13; 1 Corinthians 6:19. The Spirit of God dwelling within a believing heart begins to produce the traits of God, the first of which is love Galatians 5:22. God Himself enables us to love Him as He deserves to be loved 1 John 4:7. As we grow in knowledge and understanding of who God is, we begin to love the characteristics that define Him, such as wisdom, truth, righteousness, and purity Psalm 11:7; 90:12; Hebrews 1:9; 1 Timothy 6:11. And we begin to find the opposite of those traits repulsive Proverbs 8:13; Psalm 97:10. Spending time with God causes our hearts to hunger for holiness, and we find satisfaction only in more of Him, because He is the perfect embodiment of everything we long for. Emotion does not create love, but, when we choose to love, the emotion comes. We cannot serve two masters Matthew 6:24 , and neither can we love God and the world at the same time. The call is for a conscious returning of the affections to God alone. Another obstacle to loving God is the mind. Our minds continually set themselves up against the knowledge of God and challenge the faith that has made its home within our spirits 2 Corinthians 10:5. These obstacles can be overcome through repentance and a determination to seek God above all else Matthew 6:33; Jeremiah 29:13. In order to truly love God, we must stop insisting that God explain Himself to our satisfaction. We have to crucify our pride and our right to approve of His ways and allow Him to be God in our lives. When we humbly recognize that He alone is worthy of our love and worship, we can abandon ourselves to loving Him for who He is.

Those whom we are to love in verses 9-13 are quite clearly fellow-Christians. We are gusto-deserving sinners. He's a supreme being with unimaginable power. To be lenient is to not hold others fully accountable for their actions. We can choose to be happy even in the most difficult situations. What then shall we say to these things. Love is first and between directed toward God and then toward others in an order of priority: God, family especially our matefellow-believers, our neighbor, and even our enemy. A Preliminary Definition of Love A preliminary definition of love will be helpful to prepare the way for our study. This will be only the beginning of trouble verse 8. Do you ever feel unloved?.