wifee Posted December 31, 2012 Report Share Posted December 31, 2012 3a)sacrificial loving others without thought of what it will get back, is the type of love that God created us in His image, for us to love others with.It is not easy, and need help of Father though HS to live, think and love like this . B)No we cannot mature if avoid Christians at church ,c) we are all sons of God&need each other, to grow, learn from, be refined by. We are all different and have gifts to share with each other. Sometimes how we have been hurt by others, causes us to avoid them. Doing this can bring harm to others &avoids an opportunity to grow in Christ, as take feelings to God, receiving his healing.refining, increasing trust in Christ by faith with help of holy spirit to persevere in loving &caring for all church members.Avoiding those that hurt us, would mean we are no different from unbelievers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig Posted July 20, 2013 Report Share Posted July 20, 2013 Q3. (2 Peter 1:7) Why do we imagine that "agape love" is easier than loving church members? If we avoid church because of our hurts at the hands of church members, can we mature fully in Christ? Why or why not? It is easier to love God than church members because God is not fickle or inconsistent or sinful and therefore does not hurt us like church members can. Without involvement with the Body of Christ a Christian cannot fully mature in Christ. Jesus calls us into His body -- the church. How do we pray for and engage other Christians if we do not have a relationship with them? Jesus commanded His disciples to love one another. How can we love other brethren if we don't have a relationship with them? How can we be one with others in Christ if we don't have a relationship with them? How can be practice our Christianity without a relationship with the church and other believers in service, prayer, unity, etc.? Our spiritual development involves other believers and nonbelievers as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elizabeth kerr Posted July 27, 2013 Report Share Posted July 27, 2013 I never think of agape-love as being easier than phileo-love, brotherly kindness/love. I think it is harder but always possible because it is an act of the will and no emotions are involved. Phileo-love, whether for a biological brother, a friend, or a Christian brother, is an emotional love, a feeling of affection, liking, and enjoying-the-company-of. We feel phileo-love for someone with whom we share mutual intrests and with whom we interact closely and regularly doing what we both enjoy doing. We do not feel phileo-love for every biological brother or every Christian brother, and definitely not for one we do not see frequently and do enjoyable things with. Phileo-love is an emotional love and as such, it cannot be manufactured or forced from us just because we ought to. Agape-love, being non-emotional and rather an act of the will, is the love that enables us to do good for all others - - near or far, known or unknown, individuals or groups, liked or disliked - - not just those who love us, but also those who just don't like us, those who hate us, those who treat us evilly, those who persecute us, and also for those we don't know, total strangers; the love we havae for them because we trust and obey Jesus. Agape-love is the love God had for us while we were still His enemies, rejecting Him and persecuting His people, the love that made Jesus come to suffer and die to save us from sin, and the love God has for us now that we believe in Jesus and obey Him even though we still sin some. We must not stop meeting with other Christians to worship God and study the Bible together just because another Christian [or Christians] offended us. This is when we must most openly and most kindly and most persistently demonstrate agape-love for those who offended us. [it is impossible to feel phileo-love for them during this time because by their offense, they destroyed any phileo-love we had for them, but it is still possible for us to demonstrate agape-love for even the worst offender ... by the decision of our will to obey God.] If we stop meeting with other Christians just because some Christian(s) offended us, we will not be able to encourage, edify, or exhort one another to persevere faithful to Jesus through the end or to help each grow mature spiritually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IvoryEagle Posted December 7, 2013 Report Share Posted December 7, 2013 Why do we imagine that "agape love" is easier than loving church members? IT IS AMBIGUOUS AND WITHOUT AN ADDRESS. IT IS TEMPORARY. CHURCH MEMBERS SHOW UP AT THE CHURCH EVERY TIME YOU SHOW UP; SOME ARE JUST PLAIN HARD TO LOVE. SO HARD, THAT THEY DRIVE MEMBERS AWAY. If we avoid church because of our hurts at the hands of church members, can we mature fully in Christ? NO! Why or why not? HIS COMMAND IS CLEAR; THE PRIMARY COMMANDMENT IS LOVE THY NEIGHBOR AS THY SELF. IN ADDITION, EACH MEMBER HAS A GIFT OF THE PUZZLE OF PRODUCTIVITY WHEN WE FORSAKE THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE BRETHERN, WE RISK MINIMIZING PRODUCTIVITY. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RD35 Posted November 23, 2015 Report Share Posted November 23, 2015 Q3. (2 Peter 1:7) Why do we imagine that "agape love" is easier than loving church members? If we avoid church because of our hurts at the hands of church members, can we mature fully in Christ? Why or why not? Its not easy to love people whom we can see with all their shortcoming's. We will not mature fully in Christ if we avoid church and church members because the church is the body of Christ and we have to act and live in unity, where the body is united the head is there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commissioned Posted August 21, 2017 Report Share Posted August 21, 2017 On 7/2/2004 at 0:52 AM, Pastor Ralph said: Q3. (2 Peter 1:7) Why do we imagine that "agape love" is easier than loving church members? If we avoid church because of our hurts at the hands of church members, can we mature fully in Christ? Why or why not? With agape love there is no baggage to deal with, whereas the hurt is remembered when the church member is present. If we avoid church because of our hurts at the hands of church members, we remove ourselves from the opportunity to grow spiritually. In Christ we love as Christ loves and obeys His word not forsaking the assembly and gathering of the body of Christ. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godswriter Posted August 9, 2018 Report Share Posted August 9, 2018 Q3. (2 Peter 1:7) Why do we imagine that "agape love" is easier than loving church members? If we avoid church because of our hurts at the hands of church members, can we mature fully in Christ? Why or why I believe it is because agape love is easier to give that loving fellow believer who is in our church. We are afraid of being hurt or being looked at funny. I also believe it's because we are afraid of being judged by our fellow church member or even being betrayed by them. However reaching out in Christian love and connecting with them doesn't always mean that will happen to us. We have to realize that sometimes we have to the risk in order to love them and get to know them. No because we never mature and grow as a Christian. We need the Word preached and taught to us weekly. So we can learn from it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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