There is NO FEAR in LOVE.

Okay, so what are you afraid of? Are you in God? God is LOVE and there is NO FEAR in LOVE!

 

 

Many people think FEAR is normal. Psychologists even say fear is “good”. That does not make sense from a Biblical perspective. The Holy Bible talks about fearing (reverencing) the Lord but it also speaks about another kind of fear that torments people. Here is what the scripture says:

“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.” 1 John 4:18 (KJV)

I can understand when a non-believer entertains fear but what about when believers live in FEAR? Something is wrong with that! Let us examine the scripture.

FEAR has TORMENT.
This word fear is translated from the Greek word  φόβος (phobos) (Strong’s G5401). It is used here to describe fear, dread and terror. The word torment is translated from the Greek word  κόλασις (kolasis) (G2851). It is used in only two (2) scriptures as punishment (Matt.25:46) and torment (above) and refers to correction, punishment and a penalty. It is the same torment that a soul in Hell experiences and this is what fear brings to us if we entertain it.

PERFECT LOVE expels FEAR.
The word perfect is translated from the Greek word  τέλειος (teleios) (Strong’s G5046). It refers to something that is mature, full grown and needs nothing to make it complete. The word love is translated from the Greek word  ἀγάπη (agapē) (Strong’s G26). It refers to affection, good will, love, benevolence and brotherly love. This love is demonstrated perfectly in the Love of Christ toward us (John 15:13). The context in scripture is that FULL GROWN, MATURE AGAPE/love casteth out, or throws fear out through the door and scatters it so that it has no effect.

The scripture says anyone who fears is not FULL GROWN and is not made perfect; they are NOT carrying through completely, to accomplish, to finish or to become MATURE in LOVE/GOD. God gave believers a Spirit of Power, of Love, and of a Sound Mind. He did NOT give us the spirit of fear or timidity, fearfulness and cowardice!!!

“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” 2 Timothy 1:7 (KJV)

Please remember my friends, there is NO FEAR in LOVE and God is LOVE. Blessings to YOU!!!

SHOULD CHRISTIANS CELEBRATE VALENTINE’S DAY?

How could I write about Easter, Halloween and Christmas and not write about Valentine’s Day (VDay)? Have you realized that these so-called “holidays”, as they are celebrated today, are rooted and grounded in pagan traditions that seek to undermine the pure unadulterated Word of God?

Easter, with its egg hunts and bunny rabbits, was borrowed from the pagan fertility religions, and seeks to completely replace the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Halloween is completely pagan in origin with its focus on human efforts to chase away evil spirits by the power of evil spirits. Evil spirits chasing away evil spirits; does that even make sense?

Christmas has been so commercialized that many people have shifted focus off Jesus. Doesn’t the Holy Bible say we are NOT to be conformed to this world?

So what about VDay? Any discussion about this has to begin with Cupid and St. Valentine.

Cupid
Who is Cupid and what is his role in VDay? Cupid is supposedly an ancient god (little ‘g’) of desire, affection and erotic love. He is often portrayed as an infant who shoots arrows that are supposed to cause people to fall in love. The Roman version of Cupid (as opposed to the Greek version Eros) is the symbol of VDay today.

Cupid by William Hoare. (Photo Credit: Fine Art Photographic Library/CORBIS)

St. Valentine
The story of VDay cannot omit this man dubbed ‘saint’ to whom much of the fanfare is credited. According to History.com,

“The history of Valentine’s Day–and the story of its patron saint–is shrouded in mystery. We do know that February has long been celebrated as a month of romance, and that St. Valentine’s Day, as we know it today, contains vestiges of both Christian and ancient Roman tradition. But who was Saint Valentine, and how did he become associated with this ancient rite?

The Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred. One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine’s actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death.

Other stories suggest that Valentine may have been killed for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons, where they were often beaten and tortured. According to one legend, an imprisoned Valentine actually sent the first “valentine” greeting himself after he fell in love with a young girl–possibly his jailor’s daughter–who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter signed “From your Valentine,” an expression that is still in use today. Although the truth behind the Valentine legends is murky, the stories all emphasize his appeal as a sympathetic, heroic and–most importantly–romantic figure.”

How did VDay really originate? There are many unfounded speculations so I’ll let you sift through them and decide. History.com gives us some more information:

“While some believe that Valentine’s Day is celebrated in the middle of February to commemorate the anniversary of Valentine’s death or burial–which probably occurred around A.D. 270–others claim that the Christian church may have decided to place St. Valentine’s feast day in the middle of February in an effort to “Christianize” the pagan celebration of Lupercalia. Celebrated at the ides of February, or February 15, Lupercalia was a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, as well as to the Roman founders Romulus and Remus.

To begin the festival, members of the Luperci, an order of Roman priests, would gather at a sacred cave where the infants Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, were believed to have been cared for by a she-wolf or lupa. The priests would sacrifice a goat, for fertility, and a dog, for purification. They would then strip the goat’s hide into strips, dip them into the sacrificial blood and take to the streets, gently slapping both women and crop fields with the goat hide. Far from being fearful, Roman women welcomed the touch of the hides because it was believed to make them more fertile in the coming year. Later in the day, according to legend, all the young women in the city would place their names in a big urn. The city’s bachelors would each choose a name and become paired for the year with his chosen woman. These matches often ended in marriage.”

This bring us to my initial question: SHOULD CHRISTIANS CELEBRATE VALENTINES DAY? The possibility exists that the Roman Catholic Church may have created the Day to replace Lupercalia.  According to Cicero and Plutarch, during Lupercalia, the priests called  Luperci ran about naked, oiled and drunk, slapping women with goat skin dipped in blood. If in fact the Church created VDay to replace Lupercalia it still does not mean VDay is right. Christians are supposed to measure every practice by the standard of the Holy Bible. Here are some important points to consider:

1. Cupid is a false god;
2. Celebrating VDay is celebrating Cupid ;
3. VDay’s origins may have been pagan and founded on:
   pagan fertility rituals and fornication,
   worship of at least two other false gods, and
   idolatrous pagan blood sacrifices;
4. VDay’s celebrations today involve a few of these listed above.

The Holy Bible tells us explicitly:

• flee fornication,
• have no other gods before me,
• avoid evil and avoid even the appearance of evil.

On fornication: The Holy Bible tells Christians that their body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, fornication defiles the temple, and we are to “flee fornication” (1 Corinthians 6:18 (KJV)).

On Cupid: C’mon, really!!! Let’s have a funeral for that thought right now. The Holy Bible tells us “There is one God” (1 Timothy 2:5 (KJV)); He is the ultimate source of love because “God is love” (1 John 4:16 (KJV)); and that we should have “no other gods” (Exodus 20:3 (KJV)) in place of Him.

On avoiding the appearance of evil: The Holy Bible says “Abstain from all appearance of evil” (1 Thessalonians 5:22 (KJV)). This means we must avoid and refuse to participate in anything that even remotely resembles evil. Personally, I don’t believe we should compromise where God’s Word is concerned, though we often do!

Many will ask how can something that is supposed to have everything to do with “love” be associated with “evil”? I ask: Is there a way Christians can celebrate true LOVE (GOD) without attaching “pagan valentine” sentiments to their celebrations, and without offending God or scripture? I’d like to hear your comments on this. 🙂

See my previous post entitled WHAT is LOVE.

See also a history of THE ROMAN FESTIVAL OF LUPERCALIA.

Read the entire article about the history of VALENTINE’S DAY at History.com.

Ovid counted Faunus as the god of the Lupercalia. For Livy, it was Inuus. Other possibilities include Mars, Juno, Pan, Lupercus, Lycaeus, Bacchus, and Februus. Quod non noris, non ames [Latin proverb that translates to]: Do not love what you do not know.

HOLY BIBLE 101 – What is LOVE?

What is Love? Everyone craves LOVE! Some crave their own version of love. Some crave other people’s projection of love. Some misinterpret other emotions and mistake them for love. But, what is TRUE LOVE? What is the source of TRUE LOVE? How can a person find TRUE LOVE? To answer these questions we must analyze the word LOVE.

Think about this: the word ‘LOVE’ is a loosely used term in the English language. I love God, I love my wife, I love my Dad, I love spicy curry, I love writing, I love cooking and I love football. Surely these are not all the same type and degree of love yet we use the same word to describe all.

Do I love spicy curry in the same way that I love football? Do I love Dad in the same way that I love writing or cooking? Do I love my wife in the same way that I love God?

To begin to better understand LOVE let us consult the Greek and C.S. Lewis‘ book The Four Loves, Harcourt, Brace 1960. 🙂 The Ancient & Modern Greek languages have many different words for love. Here are four (4) that I know of, that describe different aspects of LOVE.

NOTE: There are five (5) words below but we cannot include the first as akin to love for obvious reasons.

1. PATHOS (Strong’s G3806)
This may also be called “lust”. This is a depraved vile passion that includes inordinate sexual appetites. It is described as ‘inordinate affection‘ in Colossians 3 and Christians are urged to mortify or KILL it.

“Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:” (v.5 KJV)

Many people mistake this for love and are held captive by its enticing grasp. PATHOS is an affection but it is NOT love.

2. EROS
This may also be called “romance”. It is a passionate emotion, with a major focus on sensual connection and a minor focus on sexual desire and longing. This Greek word is not found in the Holy Bible but is described by Lewis. He says:

“A man in this state really hasn’t leisure to think of sex. He is too busy thinking of a person. The fact that she is a woman is far less important than the fact that she is herself. He is full of desire, but the desire may not be sexually toned. If you asked him what he wanted, the true reply would often be, “To go on thinking of her.”” [pg. 133]

While EROS may not focus on sex it does not exclude sex. Lewis himself admits that “at a later stage the explicitly sexual awakens” in this type of man. EROS is an emotion but is not true love.

3. STORGE
This may also be called “affection”. According to Lewis, it is the most natural, sensitive, and wide spread type of ‘love’. He says:

“The Greeks called this love storge (two syllables and the g is “hard”). I shall here call it simply Affection. My Greek Lexicon defines storge as “affection, especially of parents to offspring”; but also of offspring to parents. And that, I have no doubt, is the original form of the thing as well as the central meaning of the word. The image we must start with is that of a mother nursing a baby…” [pg. 53]

Lewis explains:

“The importance of this image is that it presents us at the very outset with a certain paradox. The Need and Need-love of the young is obvious; so is the Gift-love of the mother. She gives birth, gives suck, gives protection. On the other hand, she must give birth or die. She must give suck or suffer. That way, her Affection too is a Need-love. There is the paradox. It is a Need-love but what it needs is to give. It is a Gift-love but it needs to be needed.” [pg. 54]

Even though STORGE exists without coercion it exhibits a GIFT-NEED / NEED-NEED relationship. For it to become true love NEED must be eliminated and another element added. STORGE is affection but it is not true love in and of itself.

4. PHILOS (Strong’s G5384)
This may also be called “friendship”. According to Lewis this expression of love, or true friendship, is the same as the love that David and Jonathan shared and is almost non-existent now.

“…the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.” (1 Samuel 18:1 KJV)

“I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan: very pleasant hast thou been unto me: thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women.” (2 Samuel 1:26 KJV)

Lewis says very few modern people equate this type of friendship with love. Is it that mankind has grown so cold that the ability to love in this way has diminished? Has PATHOS become prevalent and in its prevalence corrupted PHILOS?

PHILOS is used throughout the New testament. One such example is the conversation Jesus had with Peter in John 21:15-17.

Jesus asked Peter three times if he loved Him. The first two times, in verses 15 and 16 Jesus used the word AGAPAO, which refers to that LOVE which Christ himself has for mankind. Peter used the word PHILEO in his response to Jesus. PHILEO derives from PHILOS and refers simply to friendship. The third time Jesus asked the question, verse 17, Jesus used the word PHILEO and Peter felt sorrowful.

“He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee.”

Twice Jesus asked: Peter, do you love me the way that I love you? Peter’s answer was: I love you as a friend. Then the third time Jesus asked: Peter, do you love me as a friend? Peter was hurt and sorrowful because it was the truth, he only loved Jesus as a friend and not unconditionally. This may explain why he eventually went on to deny Jesus three times.

How many of us love in this way and need to examine ourselves? PHILOS is a lovely affection but it is not without conditions.

5. AGAPE (Strong’s G26)
This may also be called “charity” or “unconditional love“. It is described in the Holy Bible as the greatest virtue.

“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.” (1 Corinthians 13:1-3 KJV)

The word charity is translated from the Greek word AGAPE, pronounced ä-gä’-pā. It is very different from our modern word charity, which refers merely to kindness.

Biblical CHARITY (true love) denotes affection, good will, love, benevolence and brotherly love. Most importantly, 1 Corinthians 13 says, TRUE LOVE suffers long, is kind, does not envy, is not boastful, and is not prideful (v.4). TRUE LOVE does not behave disgracefully, is not self-seeking, is not provoked easily and does not calculate evil (v.5). TRUE LOVE does not rejoice in acts of injustice or unrighteousness but rejoices in truth (v.6). TRUE LOVE protects from imminent danger, has confidence in truth, hopefully trusts, and endures until rewarded (v.7). TRUE LOVE is never without power or effect (v.8).

We see here that AGAPE is the epitome of LOVE and that GOD is love’s ultimate personification. The scripture tells us that anyone who does not AGAPEO (verb love) does not know God since He IS AGAPE (noun love).

“He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.” (1 John 4:8 KJV)

It stands to reason that once we FIND GOD, we find true love and become vessels of LOVE (God). We can expect that vessels of this true LOVE will automatically demonstrate LOVE and will gravitate towards others who also demonstrate this love. The search for anything other than AGAPE is futile.

What is Love? Be LOVE (agape) and be LOVED! 😀