This Christmas cactus was a gift from about 5 years ago from my son and daughter-in-law. It blooms once every year about this time, although one year it bloomed twice, about a month apart. The above photo was taken this week.
I "love" this plant ! I look forward to its salmon and white blossoms every year and take good care of it all year with fertilizing and pampering it, all the while anticipating what the results will be for all my efforts when it blooms again.
People today use the word "love" loosely to apply to everything, it seems. In English we only have one word for love, but in the ancient Greek some say there were 4 types of love, and still others say the Greeks recognized 6 varieties of love. I will not go into detail about all 6 types, but I will mention them here.
(1) Eros, or sexual passion; or romantic love.
(2) Philia, or deep friendship. The Greeks valued this type of love far more than Eros. Then there is Storge, which is another kind of Philia. and involves the love between parents and their children.
(3) Pragma, or long standing love. This mostly involves the deep understanding that develops between couples that have been married for many years.
(4) Philautia, or self-love. The Greeks recognized 2 types, one of which was an unhealthy narcissism, and the other which enhanced your ability to broaden your love to include others because you felt secure in yourself and cared for yourself and therefore had more love to give to others.
(5) Ludus, or playful love, as in children or young lovers. It is seen in the flirting and teasing in the beginning stages of a relationship.
(6) Agape, unconditional love. The love God and Jesus have for mankind, and the love that mankind (believers) have for the Lord. And, of course, it is the love that Jesus has for His Father.
Most Christians have heard of these types of love, especially Philia and Agape. Agape is the highest form of love, or charity, and we will focus primarily on Agape in this post. Agape love never ends, no matter what the circumstances may be. C.S. Lewis referred to it as "gift love." Agape was later translated into Latin as "Caritas", from which we get our word "Charity", which, if you read the King James version of the Bible, is used extensively in 1 Corinthians 13:
"Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. " - 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
When a person is truly born again, He will have intense love for God and Jesus, especially when he recognizes what a sinner he is and that Jesus, in love, died on the cross so that by His shed blood we could be redeemed; washed white as snow in the blood of Jesus. When we try to comprehend such an immense and sacrificial love, we are overcome with gratitude and love for all that our Savior has done for us. For we are born again (John 3:3) and we are a new creation :
"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are past away, behold, all things are become new." - 2 Corinthians 5:17
Out of our love and gratitude to the Lord for all He has done on our behalf, we need to cultivate a strong, personal and intimate love relationship with Him by much prayer and Bible reading. It is rather like I pamper and take care of my Christmas cactus all year long, to reap the benefits and joy when it blossoms in all of its beauty and magnificence. A relationship with the Lord needs attention and cultivation in order to bring forth fruit and to grow and blossom into a beautiful association of love and trust and obedience, with the final joy and reward of being with the Lord for all of eternity. Let us also "blossom" with a radiance that befits followers of Christ; a heart full of love and compassion and true agape love for our Creator. Reflect often on His care and love for you; it will enable you to appreciate Him and to love Him even more. Pray often; read your Bible daily, for in so doing you begin to know Jesus better and to know Him is to love Him and to thereby live your life accordingly - a life that is pleasing to the Lord.
"He loved us not because we are lovable, but because He is love." - C.S. Lewis
"He who loves with purity considers not the gift of the Lover, but the love of the giver." - Thomas A. Kempis
"Faith makes all things possible. Love makes all things easy." - Dwight L. Moody
For more of my posts about love, please go to the Search Box in the upper right hand area of this page and type in "Love" and several articles will appear. So much could be written about love. The main thing is to be sure that the love of God and of Jesus is deep within your heart. If that is true of you, then you will be empowered to live a godly life, a life that bears much fruit, and you can then resist temptations easily.
Following is a wonderful sermon by Charles Spurgeon on "The Secret Of Loving God!"
Following is a wonderful sermon by Charles Spurgeon on "The Secret Of Loving God!"
"And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these." Jesus at Mark 12:30-31
Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love Me, he will keep My words, and My Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him." - John 14:23
