That Crazy Little Thing Called Love – part I

So what is love really?

Wikipedia definitions love as “a constellation of emotions and experiences related to a sense of strong affection or profound oneness.  The meaning of love varies relative to context.” 

Here are some simple definitions I found from various locations:

Agape love = self-sacrificing, paternal love of God for humanity
Philia love = brotherly love or a fondness and appreciation for another
Eros love = usually refers to love constituting a passionate, intense desire for something

So that is the easy part – the definition.  But what does this really mean.  I mean, how does one put their love into action?  The Bible says to love your neighbor as yourself so how do we really do that?  What kind of love does that refer to? 

So often I hear that we should “love them as they are, where they are” so does that mean we should be accepting of their sins too?   How do you separate the two? 

Is there a difference in how we are commanded to love Christians versus non-Christians?  How about how we love or enemies versus our friends?

What about our children – how do you show love for them?  I have seen too often where parents say they are showing love by being permission or not spanking.  I have also seen parents who are authoritarian and never allow their kids to express themselves.  How do you find that balance? 

What about the wayward child?   You know, the one who causes those grey hairs and your ulcers.  How do you show them love?  What about tough love?  What is tough love?  How do you redirect them so that they are not wayward anymore?  Can you?

I plan on continuing this in a future blog but this should be enough to start some discussions 🙂