Love is conceived in many ways: in the form of meekness, mildness, patience, liberality, freedom from envy, absence of hatred, forgetfulness of injuries. In all, it is incapable of being divided or distinguished: its nature is to communicate.
Clement of Alexandria (Titus Flavius Clemens), was the first member of the Church of Alexandria (Egypt) to be more than a name, and one of its most distinguished teachers. He was born about the middle of the 2nd century, and died between 211 and 216.
Hello. I found your Blog at random and found it quite interesting. The pictures are beautiful too.
ReplyDeleteI have something to share, ever since I've made this decision to walk with God; I found myself to have less and less (almost zero!) capacity of being jealous towards others, especially my boyfriend. My discipler affirmed that it is the fruit of the Spirit while some people think love without feeling jealous is not love at all. What do you think?
ReplyDeleteStay with what the Word of God says about love, and what the Lord in your heart speaks to you. Jealous love in the sense of wanting the beloved for yourself alone is definitely of the flesh, not of the Spirit. Even with a best friend (and a boyfriend or even a spouse is a subset of "best friend"), you must be ready to give the beloved full freedom of will. The essential nature of love is found in 1 Corinthians 13, as we all know. But the rock hard acid test of love is 1 John 3:16, the willingness to lay down your life for a friend. This cuts through all sentimental attachments to reveal what is really there or not there.
ReplyDeleteYou and your boyfriend and your other friends are still very young, and there will be lots of opportunities to find out what love really means in action, and the Lord will even use your mistakes to perfect you in His way, so never worry about that.
But stay with the Word, and always let the Word of God be your unbreakable criterion in love and everything else.