Look at the thirteenth chapter of the first letter of Saint Paul to the Church at Corinth. In this passage Saint Paul laid out his “more excellent way” for Christians to live their faith. The description he makes of love in this passage expands the definition far beyond the simple linguistic definitions of agape, eros and phileos, the three Greek words rendered love in our Bibles.
He tells us we are to love in the extreme way he lays out, not merely living up to the simple definitions. Patience, kindness, acceptance, tolerance, politeness, even temper, refusal to take offense and refusal to blame the other are all components of this love. This is not something humans do easily. We are quickly frustrated. We are arbitrarily unkind to those we consider to be unimportant. We reject those who can do nothing to further our comfort. We quickly take offense, even where none is offered. We gloat at the downfall of others and make fun of them. We envy those who have more than we do. In general, we are not predisposed to love.
This is not our natural state in the plan of God. He made us to love like Him. It is only the vestige of sin and fear of death that lead us to do the unloving acts that seem to be human nature. Human nature is under assault and captivity by the spirits of darkness who want to undo the work of God in the universe. We can easily defeat these spirits by submitting to the will of God to love as He loves. Put them out of your heart and live the way God created you to live, live a life of love.
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