God’s love for us is greater than you can imagine. It is a warm personal love, and also the love that is loyal and gives us assurance in the promises God has made. Take a walk through the scriptures with Jeff and come to learn about ahav, hesed, phileo and agape, the love of God in action. It will give you hope and confidence in your Creator who loves you with an everlasting love.
How many of us have known from childhood the verse that reads, “Love the Lord with all your heart, soul, and mind” That is God’s hope for us, true love. Yet how many of us really know what this means? Heart, soul, mind and strength…? You may assume that you understand these words, but you may also find some surprises as Jeff Patton leads you through an in-depth analysis of the scriptures to help you get a clearer picture of what it means to love God. How can we love Him…let us count the ways!
Christ reiterated the command given in the torah, to love your neighbour as yourself. Jeff hones in on this topic to help us understand the difference between selfishness and an enlightened self-interest, self-love, that helps us to love others in the same way that we should love ourselves, with an eye to achieving the best good that God has in mind for us. We don’t love ourselves then reach out to others, rather we love ourselves as (at the same time and in the same way) we love others, so that what is in the best interest of our neighbour proves to be what is also in our best interest.
Divine love is agape, “what God prefers.” So what does God prefer when it comes to the question of “How do we love our neighbour?” How can we know God’s mind on the matter of “love your neighbour as yourself”? The scripture does not leave any doubt, but gives us specific instructions that all who are part of God’s “vineyard” will heed in order to produce the kind of fruit God expects.
Are you living with difficult people, or are you a difficult person? God had a lot to say about His experience of working with people who were – qasheh meh od – stubborn, unteachable, or stiff-necked as the old english translates the Hebrew. So what advice does God offer on how to deal with these difficult people? And why does he want us, as Ambassador’s of Christ, to adopt this approach? The bible has the answers, and we would do well to listen.
It is God’s spirit that leads us into all truth as we read his word and grow in his love.
Do we love the things that God loves. As His children we should know what our Father loves and we will grow to love the same things. So what God loves is an important question for any Christian. Where do we go to know the answer? Jeff Patton searches the scriptures, for they provide us with ample evidence as to God’s nature and what He loves.
Brotherly Love
How do we demonstrate our “philadelphia,” our love for our brethren? Jeff Patton provides insights from the lives of Jacob’s family to help us understand what God expects from his children in terms of our love for one another. Brotherly love, family affection, is that a priority in your life as a Christian?
Did you know that God has a lot to say about romantic love, that deep emotional sexual love that a man and woman have for each other. In fact God dedicated a poetic book in the Bible to teach us about this kind of loving loyalty. Jeff Patton explores the Song of Songs, with a fresh perspective to make God’s thoughts on romantic love vibrant for us today.
Good Relationships: a Biblical Perspective
How do we reconcile the current belief in “personal autonomy” with the need to build good relationships? The scriptures provide a sound basis for good relationships that will last, relationships built on loving-kindness and covenant loyalty.