What the Bible says about Love Relationship
(From Forerunner Commentary)

2 Chronicles 15:1-4

These men of Judah had made the covenant with Him, and this is important for understanding that reciprocity exists in our relationship with God. He begins by drawing near to us, and He expects a similar response from us.

We do not come near to Him in one giant leap. As it is in almost all human relationships, love develops gradually. Some feel that they fall in love with one glance across a crowded room, but what really happens is that the two mistake lust or passion for love. A love relationship exists when two people really know one another; they see all the warts and character imperfections and are still willing to submit to and serve each other in a warm and generous willingness.

God is perfect in His character, and the projection of His personality is also perfect in every way. We are the problem in this relationship; we are the ones with all the warts and blemishes. These faults are in our thinking, our attitudes, and our character. The reason we draw near to God is to have our wrong thinking and attitudes removed, changed. That is what the relationship is all about, so that we can be like God. He is perfect and mature, and He wants to bring us to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. Then a marriage can take place.

John W. Ritenbaugh
The Holy Spirit and the Trinity (Part Seven)

Song of Solomon 2:14

The male lover longs to hear his beloved's voice because it is sweet to him and reflects her qualities. Upon hearing it, he is immediately warmed by the relationship they have. It is the voice that communicates this to him. Next to the sense of touch—which is far and away the most expressive of our senses—the voice conveys the greatest degree of intimacy.

John W. Ritenbaugh
Unity (Part 4): The Voice of God

Related Topics: Love Relationship | Sense of Touch


 

Jeremiah 2:2

The Revised Standard Version, in the middle of verse two, read, "I remember your early devotion, the love of your bridal days." God uses the bridegroom and bride analogies because they picture the kind of fervent relationship He desires with us. Fervency is warmth of spirit. It is an attitude.

Does a person desire a relationship with somebody who shows no interest in him? There is a possibility that something like that might occur because someone could be attracted to another, but the other is not paying any attention. So, unless the attracted person makes a move to build a relationship, the other will never notice him. He has to seek the other out.

Now, we need to put God into this scenario. He does not need us in any way, and we are not holy like He is. We do not have the mind He has or His character. In fact, we know almost nothing about Him at the time He begins to make the effort to have a relationship with us. He would like to have one with us because He can see where it can go.

But what kind of reaction will He get from us? He wants the reaction of two people in love. It is helpful to look at this from God's point of view in terms of the end of the relationship. If we were God, would we desire to have a relationship with one who is not showing any interest in us? We would not want to marry anybody who did not have as much interest in us as we have in them. Marriage should be made on the basis of equal, fervent, mutual interest. It occurs because of a desire to be together, to do things together, to accomplish things together, to build a family together, even a desire to mature and grow old together.

This is exactly the kind of relationship that God wants. In several places, He specifically says, "I remember what it was like in our bridal days," because there was heat in the relationship. Each was truly seeking the other out.

John W. Ritenbaugh
Prayer and Seeking God

Luke 14:26

The word "hate" is not an absolute term but a relative one. He is establishing a comparison: "You have to love Me more than mother, father, wife, children, brother, sister." We have to put Christ first; we have to love Him more than the others. Recall what He said to Peter after His resurrection. What was the first question? "Do you love [agape] Me more than these?" Who were the "these"? It was very likely the other disciples who were with Him. "Do you love Me more than your friends?"

What Christ said to Peter He is also saying to us! The standard is exactly the same. Though we may not have the responsibility of feeding the sheep, Christ must still be our first concern in life, and God expects us not only to be concerned, but to love Him with deep, family affection.

John W. Ritenbaugh
Loving Christ and Revelation 2:1-7

Ephesians 5:25-30

Paul compares the sacrificial responsibility of a husband and wife in marriage to Christ's sacrificial love for the church. In turn, the church has a responsibility, both as individual members and as a body, to reciprocate that love back to Him. An additional parallel taught here is that one who gives sacrificial love also benefits from the sacrifices he makes.

John W. Ritenbaugh
Eating: How Good It Is! (Part One)

2 Peter 1:11-13

If we love someone, we like to hear about him or her. I remember being taken when I was a boy to my grandmother's church, which was a Pentecostal church, and hearing and singing a song called, "Tell Me the Old, Old Story." I liked the song because of the melody, and some of the words have stuck with me. But the words are far more important to me now than the melody ever was because I understand a great deal more about the thought that the poet was trying to convey in the song.

I recently heard of someone who is upset and angry because he does not want to listen to recordings of Herbert Armstrong's sermons or broadcasts. What saddened me was that he does not have the spiritual capacity to look beyond his personal antipathy to Mr. Armstrong to the truths that he conveyed from God's Word. Instead, he is looking only at the messenger and metaphorically killing him, forgetting all about the message.

If we love someone, we find pleasure listening to someone else talk about him. We are all ears—at attention—whenever somebody talks about him. We want to hear him described, his activities expounded, his words repeated, and his plans explained. Others might be indifferent, but if we really love that person, why, we are all ears!

The true Christian delights to hear about Christ and enjoys most that fellowship in which He is being talked about.

We can see this principle at work in our culture with the groupies who form fan clubs so that they can get together and talk about their athletic hero or their entertainment star. They want to hear the latest that he or she has done. Who are they married to now? Are they expecting children? Have they been thrown in jail? Are they on drugs? Have they written new music or come out with a new albums? How many home runs have they hit? They want to hear about this person who they idolize. The principle is so easily seen. Some even go to the extent of publishing newsletters that contain the latest gossip about the one that they love because they want to be kept informed.

This same principle involved in our relationship with Christ. If we really love Him, we like to hear about Him all the time.

John W. Ritenbaugh
How to Know We Love Christ


 

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