That Lovin' Feeling

A couple of entries back I talked about love for one another being a badge of discipleship. That idea acutally springs from the words of Jesus in John 13:34-35. One problem that many of today's Christ-followers have with this is that their definition of love is too shallow. Anyone raised in the modern west has been programmed to believe that love is primarily a feeling that comes upon you and there is little or nothing that you can do about it. We're stuck in the phileo (brotherly love) or eros (physical or fleshly love) definitions of love, and have very little understanding of agapaeo. Agape love is what I call "love on purpose". The act(s) of love precede, and eventually produce, feelings. The old DC Talk song, "Love is Something You Do" pretty much nailed it.
Bottom line; I can choose to love people that I really don't even like. I can choose to do loving things for them because that is what Jesus did for me. I can choose to love that other Christ-follower who radically disagrees with me on worship styles, and if I persist long enough, who knows? I just may get that lovin' feeling.

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