The Bond Of Perfection

"Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt

love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I
say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that
curse you, do good to them that hate you, and
pray for them which despitefully use you, and
persecute you; That ye may be the children of your
Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to
rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain
on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them
which love you, what reward have ye? do not even
the publicans the same? And if ye salute your
brethren only, what do ye more than others? do
not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect,
even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect,"
Matthew 5:43-48

LOVE

is the
force of

LOVE is a
force unto life.
HATE is a
force unto
death.

Do you agree?
I intend to show that LOVE is the strength of life and that the ABSENCE OF LOVE is harmful to life and
health.
There is an invisible force called love that pulls living creatures together. In the absence of love, they
will eventually separate.
Paul wrote, "Above all these things, have love, which is a bond of the perfection," Colossians 3:14
(Young's Translation).

The Bond Of Perfection

1 John 4:8,16

The Bond Of Perfection.

Love is the perfect glue. And for what it is worth, love is the nature of God. God is love (I John 4:8,16). God is the mysterious,
invisible adhesive force that holds the entire universe together. And He works in US by LOVE. Love is God's miraculous
adhesive glue.
The Spirit and nature of God is love. In the presence of love, things live and grow stronger. In the absence of love, things
degenerate, deteriorate, and die.
I believe that the ABSENCE OF LOVE is the cause for the largest part of all tragedy and loss among humans.

Consider this comparison.

People who do not respect the laws of acceleration and momentum end up with broken bones.
People who do not respect the laws of love create sickness and death.
The evidence of that last point is all around us, in the form of countless failed marriages, dysfunctional or hurtful relations,
neglected children, unfulfilled ambitions and thwarted dreams.
I also believe that a LACK OF LOVE is the biggest single hindrance to the overall health and well-being of the Church of Jesus
Christ.
Churches which FLOURISH in the LOVE OF GOD are healthy and prolific. Churches which do not manifest love become sickly
and dwindle.
If you will take the time to consider this with me, I believe you will find that it is a worthwhile pursuit, to explore and study the
nature, power and effects of love.

Real
love is a
mystery
to most
people
People think they are in love,
but they cannot explain it.

Most people never realize the true potential or value of love, nor do they learn to
practice the art of love. It is usually very poorly defined. People think they are in
love, but they cannot explain it. There is a great deal of confusion and crossreferencing of the terms LOVE, ROMANCE, INFATUATION, AFFECTION, TENDERNESS
and so forth.
Love may include romance, infatuation, affection and tenderness. But even if those
elements are not present, it could still be love.
A lot of people will tell you that they are in love, or that they have been in love, but
there is a huge disparity between one person's definition of love and another's.
Two of my favorite statements on love are:
Love is a CHOICE to do the HIGHEST GOOD for someone.
Love is the BOND of perfectness (Colossians 3:14):Hence, LOVE is the PERFECT
GLUE.
Love is noble and idealistic. Love is the highest of all the virtues. God Himself is
love. Paul classified faith, hope and love as the highest virtues, and concluded that
love was the highest of the three.

Love is essential to
a perfect
relationship
What most
people never
realize is that
true love is
not always

What most people never realize is that true love is not always romantic. Romance is different from
love, even though ideally, they should occur together.
Romance is the emotional component of love.
Romance adds the sparkle in your eyes.
Romance adds the perfume and the colors.
Romance embellishes the scenery and swells the music.
Romance is the beautification of love.
Romance is gold leaf. It is ornamentation.
Romance sometimes becomes a means unto itself. It even becomes a cheap substitute for love at
times.
Some people seem to desire the trappings and embellishments of romance in place of genuine
relationships. By comparison, romance is superficial to love.
Romance is skin deep. Love is heart deep.
Romance requires things that love does not require.
Romance requires gifts and surprises and lavish attention.
Romance sometimes demands things that contradict love.
Romance is offended when the gold-leaf wears off.
Romance condemns love that is not eye-pleasing.
Romance often injures and denigrates true love because love does not always appeal to romance's
selfishness.

LOVE IS FOR GIVERS,

NOT TAKERS
Love seeks to understand. Love
cares. It does not pre-judge. It does
not pass sentences. Love does not
jump to conclusions. Love does not
throw down ultimatums. Love does
not declare war on its object. Love is
tender, it is kind, it is forgiving.

Those who demand to be loved before they will love should not be surprised if no
one gives them love.
Genuine lovers live in a world of giving.
The getters - the takers -the ones who expectto be loved first, live ina different
world. We have a duty to love, but we have no guarantees that we will be loved.
We have it in our power to love, but we have no power to force others to love us.
It is folly to spend life demanding love from others.
If we are true lovers, our entire mindset is in a giving mode. There is no place for
bemoaning the ways others neglect us.
Love is fascinating inasmuch that it draws a person into an expression of caring
and concern for another. An entirely selfish person cannot love.
Anyone whose desires are only for self-satisfaction cannot manifest love.
TRUE love will never encourage you to do things that God is not pleased with.

Anyone who, in a
supposed act of
love, encourages
you to do things that
are contrary to
God's Word (or
encourages you NOT
to do things you
know God desires
you to do), is not
loving you but
destroying you.

Love is tuning into another's sensitivities. Love senses another's strengths and
weaknesses.
It uses the other person's measuring stick. It suffers and rejoices on another's terms.
Love seeks rapport.
It seeks to interface with another at their level.
It seeks to relate emotionally, intellectually, physically and spiritually.
Love sacrifices personal whims if they are incompatible with the one who is loved.
Love abandons pursuits that hurt the one who is loved.
Love will do without.
Love will dress in the color that another chooses.
Love bends. Love stretches.
Love must sometimes keep silent.
Love is a desire that someone will fare better than yourself.
It is the willingness to spend yourself for the well-being of another.
Love wants the other to survive even if it means death to self.
Love will die so someone else can live.

INFATUATION
versus LOVE

Infatuation is an extravagant passion or attraction to someone. Infatuation may or may not do the best it can for its
object.
(An example of the downside of infatuation occurs when someone begins to stalk or threaten the one they are infatuated
with.)
Infatuation might just be physical passion.
Passion is what you see in animal magnetism.
Passion is driven by physical attraction, by chemistry, by hormones, if you will.
Passion causes animals to mate, to bear offspring.
Passion will make a buck tear down a fence to get to a doe.
Extreme passion is sometimes the force behind date-rape and other kinds of physical abuse.
It is possible to feel passion for someone you do not love, and it is possible to love someone you do not feel passion for.
One of the biggest mistakes a person can make is to get involved with another person on the basis of passion alone.
If the component of love is absent in a relationship, devastating things can happen.
By the same measure, you will certainly hurt anyone else for whom you have passion, but no love. Stay away from
passion that is not bounded by love.
Love is essential to the success of any relationship.
Love is the C-clamp and it is the glue. If you love, you will be forced to be patient while the glue dries.

Love can build a

bridge across great
divides

Love is more powerful than any other

force, because love stands for the best
interest.
Love will only do good. Love will do no evil.
Love is the most irresistible force known to
humanity.
Loving an adversary is like pouring fiery
coals on their resistance. They must
eventually respond in some way.
Love does only good and thereby creates a
debt of gratitude.

What is the
purpose of
love?
Love is the desire to
enhance another. God is
love. God is the desire to
improve the universe. He

Love is the desire to enhance another.

God is love. God is the desire to
improve the universe. He blesses all of
creation.
He builds, He strengthens, He helps - all
the while He is being resisted, rejected
and ignored.
God loves us. That means He wants to
do us good.

To reject
God's
love is to
reject
life.

If we reject Him, it is because we do not want His ways or His lifestyles. It is

because we have deluded ourselves into believing that our way is better
than His way.
Unfortunately, there is no way to prosper outside the blessing of God. To
reject God's love is to reject life.
When we do NOT love others, we place ourselves at odds with
God.
We are neglecting or destroying what God is trying to build up. We are
ignoring a cause that is uppermost in the mind of God. Husbands should
love their wives.
Wives should love their husbands. Parents should love their children and
children should love their parents.

Love begins to
be expressed
when it is
formulated in
the heart
Love begins with a
thought. Love looks at a
subject and creates an
interest. Love looks at a
person and says, "I like
that person, and I want to
be good to him or her."

Love cannot function in an environment of prejudice.

You cannot love someone for whom you feel antipathy or aversion or repugnance.
You cannot help someone you refuse to understand.
You cannot help someone you have judged unworthy.
You cannot love someone whom you disdain for their appearance.
You cannot love someone whom you dislike because of their upbringing.
You cannot love someone you resist because of their lack of grooming.
You cannot love someone you are jealous of, whether you are jealous of their looks,
their financial status, their popularity with others, their education or social standing,
or any other reason.

Love doesn't condemn

Love doesn't condemn or show harshness.

Love doesn't seek to destroy.Love is kind. Love is tender.
Love accentuates the positive. Love is not hate. Love does not hate.
Love doesn't put a microscope on your faults; it puts a microscope on your
potential.
Love forgives faults. Love sometimes turns a blind eye.
Love allows space for improvement. Love tolerates a lot of things that would
otherwise be intolerable.
Love bears with people that nobody else would bear with.
Love gives second chances. Love gives third and fourth chances.
Love leaves the door unlocked and the porch light on.
Love will meet a prodigal half-way.
Love will give up its own bed.
Love will celebrate a victory, even if it is a small one.
Love wants it all to work out, and will spend everything to make it happen.

Love rejoices when

others prosper

Love does not demand equal time.

Love does not require equal pay.
Love works for free if it has to.
Love never gives up.
Love persists through all adversity.
Love believes in and hopes in things.
Love tries really hard. To love is to be like Christ.
Not to love is contrary to Christ.
There is no greater love than to lay down your life for someone else. In your
dying, they live. In your forfeiture, they win. In your passing they are sustained.

What if God hate sinners?

If God did not love us, we would not have pled His cause through the centuries and millennia.
It is the love of God toward us that has endeared Him to us. If He had not loved us while we were
unlovable, we would have ignored him as soundly as we have all our other enemies.
But God's love for us is the glue that holds us to Him.
Every one of us will eventually pass from this life.
When we are gone, everything we have accumulated will be lost.
We can't take houses, land, cars, furniture, collections, art, money, or anything else.
Most of the things we have stored in our attics and garages will probably be thrown away.
Our clothes will be given away.
Nobody will listen to our CDs or read our books.
It won't take long until everything we ever were is gone and forgotten - with one exception.
We will continue to live in the hearts of those we have loved.
If we have loved God, we will find ourselves forever in His bosom.
And if we have loved others, we will be remembered fondly forever by those we have loved.
If we have failed to love, we leave nothing behind.

If we have failed to
love, we leave nothing
behind