- INTELLECT–a person has a mind with which he can think and reason.
- WILL–a person has a will with which he can choose and decide.
- EMOTION–a person has certain feelings which can cause him to be sad, mad, glad, etc.
True love is similar to a UFO (Unidentified Flying Object). Everyone is talking about it, but very few have really seen it!
In general, the world considers love as a FEELING--a strong emotion which overcomes a person, and he "falls" in love. Of course, feelings are very changeable and a person can very quickly fall "out of love." This kind of love (based upon feelings) is the kind of love that is usually seen on TV, in movies, in books and magazines, etc. We might call this the "HOLLYWOOD" philosophy of love:
"Hollywood, ever since its beginning has taught a pagan philosophy of love. The philosophy is that love happens. Love is not something to work at; it just happens. Love comes full blown from the head of Aphrodite (the Greek goddess of love). It’s the kind of thing that just is or isn’t. It isn’t something that you develop, it isn’t something that grows, it isn’t something that you work hard to achieve, it isn’t a thinking thing, and it certainly isn’t something that you can will (or decide about). It is something that happens. And when it happens, it happens in such a way that you know that it has happened! It bowls you over; you hear music, see wonderful lights, or have a near psychedelic experience. Such love at first seems wonderful, but what happens when the happening no longer happens? What happens when the happening is over? What happens when the sounds grow empty and the colors turn to gray? What happens when the feeling dies, the embers grow cold, and the lights go out? What happens to a Hollywood-type marriage based on feeling when the parties begin to experience the fluctuating character of feeling? What happens when one or the other begins to have growing feelings for someone else?" (The Christian Counselor’s Manual, by Jay E. Adams, p. 150).
Even the English dictionary defines love as a feeling:
"A feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection" (The Lexical Webster Dictionary).
A love based upon feeling is subject to change. Sometimes it is more proper to call this kind of love "LUST." This kind of love (or lust) is illustrated in 2 Samuel 13:1-15. According to verse 1, how did Amnon feel towards Tamar? _____________________________ According to verse 15, how did Amnon feel towards Tamar? ______________________________
Man, as to his personality, is tripartite (divided into or composed of three parts). The following diagram shows the three parts that go to make up a person:
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The Hollywood philosophy (view, concept) of love says that true love springs forth from the emotional part of man, and is based primarily upon FEELINGS. We now want to see what the Bible teaches about true LOVE (Greek word: AGAPE). The following three passages demonstrate that LOVE (as defined in the Bible) is not a feeling:
In this verse, the Lord Jesus gave a command which says, "LOVE Y_______ E_______________. Is this something that a person normally feels like doing? _____ If we followed our feelings we might punch our enemy in the nose, etc., but we certainly would not feel like loving him! It's easy to have the kind of love described in verse 46, because this is what we feel like doing! If love were a feeling, then it would be impossible to obey Matthew 5:44, because we would never feel like loving our enemy!
Romans 14:15 talks about walking charitably or walking according to love. In these verses Paul is talking about how we should love our brother and not be a stumbling block to him. What does a person normally FEEL like doing (see Romans 15:1)? ___________________________ The person who loves his brother will do what (Romans 15:2)? ____________________________________ Feeling tells us: "Please self!" True love says, "Put the needs of others ahead of self!"
Did God see anything good in you that made Him feel like loving you? Did God love His enemies (see Rom. 5:10)? God manifested His love towards people who were quite UNLOVABLE and quite UNGODLY (Rom. 5:6). If God had acted according to FEELINGS, He would have judged us because that is what a HOLY GOD feels like doing to hell-deserving sinners. Why did God love us? He loved us not because He FELT like loving us, but because He CHOSE to love us according to His mercy and grace. Consider again the diagram above. Where should true love spring from??
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