Grace and shalom, Adrienne,
There are different classes of love. When Jesus asked Peter, do you love me? Peter answer, yeah Lord, you know I do, Jesus said, "feed my sheep". Yet if you look up that word 'love' it was based on friendship and not agape. Agape love is unconditional love. God is love. For God so loved the world that He gave...
Jesus hung on the cross and cried out, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do!" Love crying out in mercy.
We are loved by God, not in the human love, but in absolute love. Love covers the multitude of sins, means it overlooks the faults of others and simply loves because the love of God has been shed abroad in the hearts of those who have been called out of darkness and into marvelous light, believers in Yeshua.
I love Genesis and concerning light I asked the Lord...here is what I received:
Asking Holy Spirit to teach me about "light"
In the beginning God, who is love, created man in His image and likeness...love
God walked in the cool of the day calling to His children in songs of love and joy; His children responding wtih His Banner over me is love songs...praise worship, thanksgiving and rejoicing (love calling to love, come and meet with me and in love we share).
Sin comes in, connection broken.
So love we were supposed to be, became selfish, my needs my wants, disappointments, depression, anxieties, worries, fear, anger, discouragment, and all other hosts of emotional baggage we carry around because we want and expect others to meet our needs, when they are expecting us to meet those same needs and herein lies the problem. How can we expect them to love us the way we know we are supposed to be loved, when we know we don't and they don't even love ourselves that way?
Jesus comes, His blood cleanses...restored to love relationship, God singing over us with songs of love and joy we respond with His banner over me is love songs of rejoicing, worship, praise and thanksgiving.
But because of rigid mindsets that were formed through our life, these barriers need to be broken down and for this reason we are commanded to be in the word. Meditating on the word day and night, speaking them as we sit, lie down, rise up and when we go to work. The word always before us. Oh how I love your law. The word of the Lord. Psalms 119, awesome Psalm about the word of God. Psalms 19. Oh how I love the word of God, it is life to those that find it and health to all their flesh.
Pro 4:20 My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings.
Pro 4:21 Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart.
Pro 4:22 For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.
Pro 4:23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. \
Pro 4:24 Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee.
Pro 4:25 Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee.
Pro 4:26 Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established.
Pro 4:27 Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.
KJV
The commandment to love the LORD your God with all your heart, mind and strength and to love our neighbor as ourselves. (Our neighbor being anyone in our life, including strangers on the street)
That love of God has been shed abroad in our heart by Holy Spirit who lives in us. Scripture has a prayer:
This I pray that your love may abound yet more and more
in knowledge and in all judgment
that you may approve things that are excellent,
that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Messiah (Christ)
being filled with the fruits of righteousness that are found in Jesus Christ/Yeshua
to the glory and praise of God.
I pray this for each one who read this post. In Yeshua's name. Amen.
