What is Love? (Understanding True Love, Lust, Passion, and Infatuations) – 8

Child of God, I believe you have a deep understanding of true love, lust, passion, and infatuations by this time. If you have not read my previous articles on love, kindly read them to understand this topic better.

I have laid the foundations of true love and how to discern lust, passion, and infatuations in those articles. You can watch some picture slides and listen to a message I preached on love on my youtube channel for more profound revelations.

When I see some youths expressing “love,” I often sense lust, passion, and infatuations because most do not understand true love. They interpret lust, infatuations, and passion as love. Because of this ignorance, many people enter a relationship and later regret it.

Even in marriages, the partners feel deceived and betrayed because they interpreted lust, passion, and infatuation as love before agreeing as husbands and wives. Also, note that we have love and true love (divine).

True love has an unbreakable foundation, while false love has a weak foundation. Until you understand the nature of true love, you will continuously swim in the pool of rejection, despair, and hopelessness.

Some people cannot choose a faithful partner because they have little or no knowledge of true love. It is like a student attending lectures without his books, pen, and other essential accessories to record the lessons of the lecturer.

Like a hunter operating in the wild bush without his gun and knife, such a hunter lives at the mercies of wild animals. Entering a relationship without a strong foundation and understanding of true love makes you vulnerable to the one you are offering your love.

Some people are players; all they need is your asset and body. Body in the context of this article means all they want from you is sex. They only see you as a sexual object. They have no vision, mission, or purpose for the relationship.

Child of God, true love has several foundations, and one of these foundations is purpose. Purpose makes love meaningful. Without purpose, true love will depreciate and perish. Like fire and gasoline, without gasoline, the fire will go off.

It takes purpose (gasoline) to strengthen the love (fire). The fact that I love you does not mean I should ignore wisdom and knowledge. Before you enter a relationship, discover your purpose and the purpose of the partner because, without this knowledge, love will not stand the storms of life.

You can read my article, how to discover your purpose for more profound revelations. Child of God, before planting a seed, you have to check the fertility of the soil, availability of water, sunlight, and security of the seed because they are the survival ground for the seed.

If the seed (love) is fake, your effort becomes vain. That is how true love operates. Before entering a relationship, be convinced in your heart and mind that you truly love and respect the person because it takes love and respect to build a strong relationship (See Ephesians 5:25-33).

Why do you think Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus (includes every Church of Christ Jesus) that husbands must love their wives and wives must respect their husbands? It is because love and respect (reverence) build families.

Although Apostle Paul did not marry, he knew love and respect were strong foundations of every lasting relationship. Like the example I gave you, before you sow a seed (love), check the fertility (compatibility of purpose), check the availability of water and sunlight (respect and honor), and security (mission, vision, and assignment).

Like most blind people, all they check is the temporal asset of the partner. Those things may help, but it has limitations. Do you know how the person acquired those temporal assets you lust after?

A wise person will first check the partner's vision, mission, and divine purpose before committing to the relationship because that is one of the foundations of true love. I will not marry a woman who dislikes Christ Jesus, the ministry, and human beings.

I will marry a woman whose purpose agrees with my purpose. I will marry a virtuous woman (See Proverbs 3110-31). I must be a faithful man (potential husband) to attract a virtuous woman (potential wife).

The same principle applies to women. A responsible man will not marry a girl, lady, or woman; he will marry a wife. I mean a woman who has the characteristics of a wife. The same principle applies to women.

A woman (potential wife) will not marry a boy, guy, or man; she will marry a husband. That is a man who has the characteristics of a husband. Some people are so selfish that they do not think about others for a minute.

I have learned from married people that marriage takes sacrifice, communication, and responsibility to make it work. If you cannot sacrifice some things to make the marriage work, it will break in the long run.

It takes knowledge to live with women because the Holy Scriptures recommend it (See 1 Peter 3:7). Since women are weaker vessels, you need the knowledge of the Word (Holy Scriptures) to live with them.

I learned that women have several hormonal changes. These hormonal changes make them insecure and vulnerable to mood changes. If you are a man (married or unmarried), study women with wisdom and learn to appreciate them because the Holy Scriptures emphasize that they are weaker vessels (See 1 Peter 3:7).

It is the strong that protects the weak from destruction. However, some women will not admit that they are weak. Such women are the weakest of all females because they have rejected the wisdom of God.

Women came from men, so whatever a woman needs is in a man. Any woman that claims that she can live without a man is the most vulnerable of all females because she has denied the seed that gives her purpose.

The woman enters the man’s life to assist and complete with the man. God said it is not good that a man should be alone.

 

And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.

 Genesis 2:18 KJV

Note the word “good.” For example, a computer programmer can say it is not good for a student to live without a laptop. Yes, a student may not survive in studies without a computer; the student will only be limited in some aspect of his life because he does not have a laptop.

A man can decide to live without a woman, but a woman cannot live without a man because God created the woman for the man. Read history, and you will realize that several men became successful without a wife.

God did not force Adam to accept the woman (Eve). God brought the woman to Adam so that Adam could decide for himself, which means Adam could have decided to reject the woman and move on in life.

God created the woman (Eve) because of the man (Adam), so every woman is alive because of a man. If men cease to exist, all women will die. Mark my words, if men cease to exist, all women will die because they receive life from men.

Do you know that women secretly desire men? Most women will not accept this truth. They try to show off. We know most women try to show no interest in men. They do that because of insecurity.

If you are a man (potential husband) and you propose to a woman (potential wife), and the woman makes it hard for you. Take it from me, either the woman is not the right person or has been through several bad experiences in a relationship, so she wants to test your true love.

Don’t kill yourself to get a woman (potential wife) because God has prepared several women for you. The same applies to women. God has prepared several men for you, but you must apply wisdom because women have several limitations in choosing husbands.  

In many African cultures, men propose to women. For example, in Ghana, a woman (potential wife) does not propose to a man (potential husband). The man is supposed to propose to the woman.

If you are a woman and allow insecurity to dominate you, you are likely not to marry. No man will love to marry a woman in her old age. If you are a woman and in your flower stage (youthful age), utilize this period to connect with a man (potential husband) because that season will not last forever.

Many women abused their flower stage, and today they have become prostitutes. A man can be forty and above; the man will not suffer to get a wife of her choice because women were created for the men.

A woman above forty and sometimes thirty is likely not to marry because most men will not marry such a woman. If you are a woman above thirty reading my article and you are not married, may God show you mercy and provide you a potential husband in Christ Jesus name!

The fact that several men deceived you does not mean all men are deceivers; it may be that you walked outside God’s will. Do not solely rely on the experiences of people to conclude your decisions.

Let the Word of God be your final decision-making tool in life because the Word will never pass away. Do not repeat your mistakes and the mistakes of others; instead, learn from them and use the Holy Scriptures as your ultimate guide.

I wrote this short introduction to help you understand some aspects of true love and relationship. In this article, I will use the lesson of Christ Jesus, his disciples, and Lazarus to help you understand true love.

 

Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.

(It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.)

Therefore his sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick.

When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.

Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus.

When he had heard therefore that he was sick, he abode two days still in the same place where he was.

Then after that saith he to his disciples, Let us go into Judaea again.

Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world.

But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him.

These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep.

Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well.

Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep.

Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.

And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe; nevertheless let us go unto him.

John 11:1-15 KJV

From the holy text, Apostle John wrote that our Savior and Lord Christ Jesus loved Martha, her sister (Mary), and Lazarus. Lazarus had died in Bethany (a town in Judaea), and Jesus told his disciples that they must return to Judaea to transact divine business.

The disciples of Christ Jesus knew the Jews (descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel) in Judaea hated Jesus. These Jews wanted Christ Jesus' corpse, yet Jesus decided to return to Judaea with His disciples because of his love for Martha, Mary, and Lazarus.

Child of God, if you love someone, you will be willing to risk your life to save the person. I remember watching a short video where a crocodile chased a man in a river. This man's friends were standing near the river crying out for help.

As the crocodile was chasing the man, the man swam in the direction of his friends. One of his friends courageously interrupted the crocodile from grabbling the man in the river. What would have happened if this friend did not risk his life to save his friend from the crocodile.

I don’t know whether the crocodile was real. If the crocodile was real, then the friend risked his life to save his friend. That is how true love works. We must be willing to lose our reputation to save others from destruction if we love Christ Jesus.

Some people cannot show their light (Christianity) in the workplace because they fear losing their jobs and evil friends. When I was doing my internship in a training college, one of the account officers did not like me because I read the Holy Bible in the office.

I believe the Holy Bible made him sin-conscious. Most accountants engage in fraudulent activities, so they don’t want the people under them to reveal their Christianity. Although the financial accountant denied me of seeing important accounts documents in the office, I did not allow his hostility to stop me from reading the Holy Bible in the workplace because of my love for the Word (Holy Scriptures).

Child of God, if you genuinely love Christ Jesus, you will not feel ashamed of reading the Holy Bible in the workplace, lecture hall, and social gathering. Like Christ Jesus, He knew the Jews wanted him dead, yet He decided to enter the enemy’s land because of his love for Lazarus and his sisters.

Christ Jesus' disciples advised that he should not enter Judaea because of the hostility of the Pharisees, Sadducees, Sanhedrin’s, Scribes, and other ungodly enemies; Jesus overruled their advice and ventured into Judaea because of true love.

Child of God, if you truly love your family, friends, and unsaved souls, you will risk your life to save them. I am not saying you should commit suicide to prove your love. One secret you must know about true love is that if you risk your life to save others with the heart of true love, God and His angels will protect you from the enemy.

You will receive divine backup if your motives are right in the sight of God. God will not allow the enemy to crush you if you do something from your heart (true love). The lesson continues.

 

Then said Thomas, which is called Didymus, unto his fellow disciples, Let us also go, that we may die with him.

John 11:16 KJV

One thing that marveled me was the love Apostle Thomas expressed! Thomas was ready to die with Christ Jesus because of true love! If you truly love someone, you are not afraid to enter the enemy’s land with your lover.

True love is an unseen force; it stretches us beyond our abilities. Child of God, if you genuinely love someone, you will risk your life to migrate with him irrespective of the condition. If you truly love your husband or wife, you will move together to a new environment.

Analyze the words of Apostle Thomas, “Let us also go, that we may die with him [Christ Jesus].” Why do you think some people leave their comfort zone and move to hostile environments to preach the gospel?

Several Christian missionaries died in hostile environments because of their love for Christ Jesus and the gospel. Do you know that numerous people have sacrificed their lives and families to make the Holy Scriptures available in our generation?

Child of God, real love is sacrifice! If someone can dedicate his entire life to pursuing a college certificate, what stops you from serving the church. Some people spend their whole life in their job because they love their job and secondly it sustains the family.

What sacrifice are you making to advance the kingdom of God? Do you love Christ Jesus and the church? If you love Christ Jesus and the church, do something because true love works.

 

Then when Jesus came, he found that he had lain in the grave four days already.

Now Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off:

And many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother.

Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him: but Mary sat still in the house.

Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.

But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee.

Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again.

Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.

Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:

And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?

She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.

And when she had so said, she went her way, and called Mary her sister secretly, saying, The Master is come, and calleth for thee.

As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly, and came unto him.

Now Jesus was not yet come into the town, but was in that place where Martha met him.

The Jews then which were with her in the house, and comforted her, when they saw Mary, that she rose up hastily and went out, followed her, saying, She goeth unto the grave to weep there.

Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.

When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled,

And said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see.

Jesus wept.

Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him!

John 11:17- 36 KJV

When Christ Jesus saw Mary, Martha, and the Jews weeping, He groaned. Christ Jesus' feelings changed. He became sorrowful and started mourning with the people. The people around could see Christ Jesus shouting in pain because of his love for Lazarus and his family.

Hardly will you find a man crying, but we can see from Holy Scriptures that our Saviour and Lord Christ Jesus became oppressed and uttered mournful words because pain filled his heart. Christ Jesus became restless, depressed, and perplexed in mind because of true love.

Imagine the Creator of the Universe crying with His creatures to show His love. The Jews discerned that Christ Jesus loved Lazarus. They said, “Behold how he loved him!” Monitor any man who cannot cry in sorrowful seasons; such a man has little or no seed of love in him!

Christ Jesus cried like a widow who has lost her only child because of true love. Child of God, it is easy for women to weep, but for a man to cry like a woman indicates something. One sign to know that someone loves you is that he will not feel shy of expressing pain when you are in pain.

A true lover will cry with you in your painful season because his soul is connected to your soul. Like Christ Jesus, He did not hide his emotions, He expressed his feelings, and the people around him saw His love for Lazarus. “Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him!” A man who easily shares tears in painful moments has a greater seed of love in him. The lesson continues.

 

And some of them said, Could not this man, which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died?

Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it.

Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days.

Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?

John 11:37-40 KJV

Martha, the sister of Lazarus, alerted Christ Jesus that the smell within Lazarus cave would be awful. Christ Jesus did not allow the smelly odor of Lazarus to hinder his love. Child of God, true love does not know the poor and rich.

If you have the seed of true love, you will love the creation of God. True love will teach you to accept the rejected, sick, poor, and rich. I knew a gospel minister in koforidua who had a genuine love for the sick.

He could live with vulnerable people with huge sores over their bodies because of his love for Christ Jesus and the ministry. He is into deliverance, healing, and holiness ministry. Anytime I remember this gospel minister, I feel the love of Christ in his heart.

• How do you feel when a sick person comes near you?
• How do you feel when you see people in pain?
• Can you enter unpleasant places to win and establish souls for God’s kingdom?
• Do you feel the pain of others?

Child of God, are you ready to face the stinking part of the ministry? If you are not prepared to face persecution, temporal pain, insults, rejection, and accusations of the world and professing Christians, you have not developed the seed of true love. If you have true love, the stinking tomb will not hinder you.

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