TRUE/REAL LOVE: Strangely, When God speaks to us of love; He takes us not to a bed of pleasure but to the agony of a hill called Skill There we witness the ultimate moment of love. It is not in the intensity of pleasure as two naked lovers intertwine in each others arms, but in the incredible pain as the eternal lover hung naked on the tree, stretching out his arms to hug prodigal humanity back to the heavenly father. This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins (1st John 4:10).

This love is not the mutual satisfaction of one another ego needs. It is not a surge of neural impulses switching on the pleasure centers of the brain. Neither is it the intellectual satisfaction of knowing you are connecting with another ideas. Christ love was a choice of His will that led him to the ultimate act of love. He obeyed the desire of his father and sacrificed himself to take the death penalty for those who detested him. He willingly remained on the cross in the midst of a crowd as they cursed and yelled, who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the son of God (Mathew 27: 40).IN OTHER WORDS, LOVE IS DEFINED AS: Having strong feeling on a person(s). It could be classified as trust, Confidence and Complete dependence. True love is not competitive; it does not have to prove itself or selfishly meet its own personal needs. It is so secured that it can sacrifice itself to save another. Jesus Christ, knowing that the father had put all things under His power, gave himself up for the sake of His enemies (John 13:3, Romance 5:8). GENERAL LOVE:Love begins with ardent passion, but like a beautiful plant, it withers and die, if the parties involved do not understand how to nourish and care for it, because its fragile. It takes self discipline to be a genuinely loving person. Those who contend that love is primarily a feeling will make unstable lovers. Moreso, "the only authentic prove of love is giving", according to John 3:16.

You can give without loving, but you can't love without giving.Again, we don generally fall in love, we grow into love. And it is the antidote to every necessary relationship, which can only grow by sharing. NOTE - "We must not only expect to be treated with love and consideration, but we must also act with love and consideration".Take note of below mentioned axiom: JOY      - Is the strength of lovePEACE - Is the serenity of loveLONGSUFFERING - Is the endurance of loveGENTLENESS - Is the humility of loveGOODNESS - Is the character of loveMEEKNESS - Is the conduct of loveSELF-CONTROL - Is the conquest of loveFAITH - Is the confidence of love "There cannot be a positive relationship without an understanding of love.BELOW ARE 11 CHARACTER TRAITS OF LOVE: 1. LOVE CELEBRATES WHEN TRUTH TRIUMPHS: Truth creates an atmosphere where love can grow. Judgments and criticisms produce antagonism against others. Gossip-telling the truth about someone to the wrong person at the wrong time and slander peddling a ruinous lie about someone are the poisons that murder friendships and love. Those who love get their facts straight and then never use them to club someone into the ground. Love wants to restore others in truth.2. LOVE ACTS PATIENTLY: It endures: the faults and affronts of others (1st Peter 4:8, Romance 12: 17-21.) 3. LOVE DOES NOT KEEP A RECORD OF WRONGS:God always forgive and forget us whenever we sin and ask for forgiveness & incubates us with His love. We must daily take our personal grievances against others to the foot of the cross of Jesus. There we find personal forgiveness and the reason to forgive others. Love does not keep a mental journal of hurts that deserve repayment. It throws away the balance sheet.4. LOVES IS NOT EASILY ANGERED: Love does not agitate people unit to lose their temper. Love itself is not touchy. It realizes that by living in an unjust world there will be reason to get justly angry. But love never allows even righteous anger to dominate its thoughts. Anger becomes the acid of internal bitterness when it is stored up. The human mind is the wrong container for this corrosive material. Prolonged anger becomes satan toehold into our lives. Love does not store angry feelings; rather it learns how to express intense emotion honestly & constructively. 5. LOVE DOES NOT SEEK ITS OWN SATISFACTION:The issues important to love are not self-fulfillment, self- justification or self-pleasure. Love concern is to meet the needs of others. behaving a particular attitude offends another: love does stop the action. If eating a particular kind of food offends another conscience; love does not eat. If openly expressing one beliefs about certain characteristic taboos in a particular group will only generate anger and hurt; love can keep its convictions to itself Love has higher priorities than what it eats, drinks or believes about debatable matters. Love priorities are to obey and to celebrate the joy of being in a family or group. It builds others up. Pride tears others down. (1st Corinthians 10:24, Romance 14:22, Romance 14:17-18).6. LOVE DOES NOT ACT JEALOUSLY:Group members, Friends, Couple and a Courtship partners should strongly protect the exclusive relationship they have together. Love does not distrust it's partner. It does not burn with envy every time it sees the object of its love giving time to others. Love doesn attempt to manipulate, control or stifle the gifts of its ally. It can rejoice in another success.7. LOVE ACTS IN KINDNESS:   Love graciously assists another, even when It is rejected. (Romance 2:4, Romance 8: 1).8. LOVE PERSEVERES: Love is willing to put up with mistreatment and misunderstanding to help others understand and believe the truth. (1st Cor. 9:12).9. LOVE NEVER GLOATS OVER THE MORAL FAILURES OF OTHERS:Love throws a cloak of silence over what is displeasing in another. It does not relieve the boredom of life by entertaining itself in the scandal sheets of other lives. Instead, it weeps over the pain wickedness brings. One of the worst forms of depravity is to laugh while others fall. True love gently seeks to restore. 10. LOVE DOES NOT BRAG, IT DOES NOT PUMP ITSELF UP:Love, unlike inferiority, does not boast of it's superior knowledge or depth of spirituality. (1st Corinthians 8:2, 1st Corinthians 14:37) 11. LOVE NEVER FAILS:In a world of change, love never wears out. Love will always be the atmosphere of every relationship & home forever. Love makes the atmosphere of our lives & Homes. We are commanded to behave like this toward all humankind. This self-sacrifice for others needs to become a circle of love big enough to encompass the entire population of this planet. (Matthew 28: 19-20).PRINCIPLES OF GENUINE LOVE:1. Involvement of a commitment2. Unconditional3. Genuine love attempts to meet the needs of the others4. Genuine love allows the other to be himself (1st Corinthians 13:4)5. Genuine love is permanent (1st Corinthians 13:8)Summary:We Christians need to genuiely love our fellow Christians the way we love ourselves. Not minding country or cultural differences. We should understand that we one body in Christ, one in His Royal family. Love you all!

Joy Ulumma Levi