Lesson 8. What Is Love?

It is very important for all of us to understand what kind of love is being discussed here, what it is like, what it consists of, and how it can be revealed and known.

It is impossible to give a full and exhaustive answer to the question of our lesson all at once. I have been writing about this for many years and understand that I have only just begun to uncover something. Yet how many facets of the diamond of love still need to be discovered in my life and made my own!

Nevertheless, I will try to explain the essence of love, and in all the lessons that follow, I will reveal its depth comprehensively.

It is written that God is Love, and he who abides in love abides in God. This is the key to understanding.

When agape love begins to reign in my heart, at first there is no explanation for this phenomenon. Everything seems to be going well, but better than before. God becomes more real, closer, and dearer. I feel Him within me, but I cannot understand where He is. He blends what is His with what is mine, gives me the right to choose, and acts on the basis of my decisions or requests.

Salvation is me in Christ and the knowledge of God’s will and the beauty of His character within my mind and heart.

Love is Christ in me. It is fellowship with God and the knowledge of Him already within me. It is the complete presence of God in my heart and mind, a clear and comprehensive understanding of truth, and at the same time the complete granting of freedom to choose my own path, decisions, and actions. Yet love leads me to action in such a way that, as I fulfill God’s will and obey the law, I fulfill the desire of my own heart and do so with joy.

Love is the lamp of my heart, which cannot be hidden, which shines within me, and which is visible to everyone.

Love becomes a target for the forces of evil and brings many trials into my life, but the Lord is my shield, my salvation, and my victory within me. In answer to Jesus’ prayer, He keeps my heart from evil, giving me the opportunity to be His witness in this world.

Love is gold tried in the fire of trials, with which I can pay for every service rendered by my friends, my fellow believers, my God, my enemies, and my neighbors. With this wealth, I pay the servants of the evil one for all the problems and curses they bring into my life and for every desire they have to rob, kill, and destroy me. I have nothing else to give them in return, so I give them love.

Love is a currency that will never lose its value. What I acquire here in earthly life will make me very rich in Eternity. The interest from my earthly savings will continually replenish my Heavenly account throughout endless life among holy beings.

Love is the harmony of God and the human being within me. I was created for love, and when I entered this path, I simply agreed with my Creator’s original plan and became part of His complex mechanism of the beautiful Universe.

My body is built from love, and when my mind and heart are joined to the Source of love, my life enters into absolute harmony with nature and makes me fit in every area of my being for a happy life in Jesus.

Love restores physical, emotional, and spiritual balance.

Love is the sum of all the perfections provided by God for my spiritual development and perfection.

This description can be continued endlessly. I simply look into my heart and share what has accumulated there. There is no need to invent anything; we need only take what is there and give it to others.

And the Head of all this is Christ. Love is the result of our close relationship with Him.

But it must be chosen, purchased, and tenderly preserved—and this is possible for everyone.

1. Please read Philippians 2:13; Colossians 3:14; 1 John 4:7–16; Romans 13:8; Romans 5:5; and 1 Corinthians 12:31 in the light of our lesson.

2. What did you understand from this lesson? What kind of love is being discussed?

3. What does Philippians 2:13 have to do with our subject?

4. How do you understand 1 John 4:16?

5. What currency will exist in Heaven?

6. For what purpose were we created?

7. What is Agape Love?

8. What is love: a relationship, a skill, a quality, a fruit, a person, a pink heart, a smile, emotions, a principle, a law, freedom from the law, mercy, or justice?

9. Read 1 Corinthians 12:30. How can we find the more excellent way, what is this way, and where does it lead?