That love may cover friendship love, family love, and romantic love. The love may range in intensity from affection to deep and committed intimate love.
This year, the
premier of a movie based on a highly popular and controversial book series
has caused many people to take another and closer look at what we can
classify as authentic love in today's
society.
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Rather than concentrate on the message of the movie, I'd rather use the old analogy of: "How do you know if something is counterfeit? You must know the genuine version so well that there can be no doubt as to which is the real thing."
I would like to offer a set of statements against which we can judge alternative definitions or descriptions or depictions of love to help us determine which might be the most authentic, sound and lasting. I offer the following 50 Shades of Love:
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FIFTY SHADES OF LOVE
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1. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in
them. I John 4:16
2. Give
thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. I Chronicles 16:34
3. Lord, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God,
who keeps his covenant of love with
those who love him and keep his
commandments, Nehemiah 1:5
4. For
the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues
through all generations. Psalm 100:5
5. Your
love, Lord,
reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. Psalm 36:5
6. The
Lord loves
righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love.
Psalm 33:5
7. …love
comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. I John 4:7
8. The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and
gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness,
rebellion and sin. Exodus
34:6-7
9. We love
because he first loved us. I John 4:19
10. God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still
sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8
11. and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn
from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves
us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, Revelation 1:5
12. For he [God] chose us in him before the creation of the world to
be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us
for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure
and will— to the praise of his
glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.
Ephesians 1: 4-6
13. See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we
should be called children of God! And that is what we are! I John 3:1
14. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into
the world that we might live through him.
I John 4:9
15. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved
us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. I John 4: 10
16. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only
Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal
life. John 3:16
17. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s
life for one’s friends. John 15:13
18. [Jesus said] As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.
John 15:9
19. Love
the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all
your mind and with all your strength. Mark 12: 30
20. Love
your neighbor as yourself. Mark 12:
31
21. So
be very careful to love the Lord your God.
Joshua 23:11
22. [Jesus said] A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved
you, so you must love one another. John 13:34
23. [Jesus said]
By this everyone will know that you are my disciples,
if you love
one another.
John 13:35
24. Above
all, love
each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. I Peter 4:8
25. Do everything in love. I Corinthians 16:14
26. Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and
in truth. I
John 3: 18
27. Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that
you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the
heart. I Peter
1:22
28. You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not
use your freedom to indulge the flesh]; rather, serve one another
humbly in love. Galatians 5:13
29. [Jesus said] But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who
persecute you, John 5:44
30. [Jesus said] But to you who are listening I say: Love
your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless
those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. Luke 6: 27-28
31. [Jesus said] the Father
himself loves
you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from
God. John 16:27
32. [Jesus said] If you love me, keep my commands. John 14:15
33. Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves
me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will
love
them and show myself to them. John
14:21
34. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear
has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. I John 4:18
35. If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love,
I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. I Corinthians 13:1
36. Love
is patient, love
is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. I Corinthians 13:4
37. [Love]
does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered,
it keeps no record of wrongs. I Corinthians 13: 5
38. Love
does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. I
Corinthians 13:6
39. [Love]
always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. I Corinthians 13: 7
40. Love
never fails. I
Corinthians 13: 8
41. Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot sweep it away. Song of Solomon 8:7
42. A friend loves at all times, Proverbs 17:17
43. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and
self-control. Galatians
5:22-23
44. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is
love. I Corinthians 13:13
45. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith
goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to
knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to
perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual
affection; and to mutual affection, love. II Peter 1:5-7
46. the
Lord’s unfailing love
surrounds the one who trusts in him. Psalm 32:10
47. You,
Lord, are forgiving and good, abounding in love
to all who call to you. Psalm 86:5
48. Surely
your goodness and love
will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Psalm 23:6
49. keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus
Christ to bring you to eternal life.
Jude 1:21
50. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor
demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,
neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to
separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our
Lord. Romans
8: 38-39
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There's a lesson in that...
Scripture from New International Version
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