"Help, LORD; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men. They speak vanity every one with his neighbour: with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak. The LORD shall cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaketh proud things:" Psalm 12:1-3

Over the years, I have listened to sermons and read articles from many preachers, and in the teachings of those men, I have discovered that the word 'love' has been very often misconstrued. (i.e. erroneously interpreted) However, this is somewhat of a strange circumstance because we all believe that we understand what love is, at least, from a generalized cultural standpoint, so why would we ever think that the term 'love' could be so commonly misunderstood?

In this teaching, we are going to take a look at the word 'love' in Scripture, how it is used, how society tends to use it, and why the discrepancy between definitions can leave us with heaps of false doctrine. This is a very important doctrine to understand because the entire crux of salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ rests on the concept of love, for without it, God would never have sent His Son into the world to save us.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
-John 3:16

As with all my books and articles, I occasionally use Noah Webster's 1828 Dictionary to help define certain words of Scripture, and I do this because Webster used the context of the King James Bible (i.e. the preserved Word of God) to formulate definitions in his dictionary. I do not fully agree with everything Webster put in his dictionary, but the grand majority of his definitions are accurate to the Bible, and worthy of consideration.

Under the word 'love', Webster's 1828 Dictionary says the following:

love (v): 1. in a general sense to be pleased with; to regard with affection, on account of some qualities which excite pleasing sensations or desire of gratification
2. to have benevolence or goodwill for
(See 'love', American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster, 1828, retrieved July 22, 2022, [webstersdictionary1828.com])

This concept can be seen in Leah's desire for her husband to be pleased with her:

And Leah conceived, and bare a son, and she called his name Reuben: for she said, Surely the LORD hath looked upon my affliction; now therefore my husband will love me.
-Genesis 29:32

Jacob had a great desire for Rachel, but was tricked into marrying her sister Leah first, which left Leah in the sad position of being the least favored of the two wives. God had mercy on Leah by closing Rachel's womb and opening Leah's womb, so that Leah would bear many children and earn more favor with her husband, thereby increasing her favor with Jacob, which is what she desired. (Gen 3:16)

I agree with this general definition in one sense because we all have pleasurable sensations for the things we favor, however, this is not the full understanding of love. It would make no sense for us to say that a "sense of pleasure" or a "excited pleasing sensation" or a "desire of gratification" is the full meaning of love because, if it was, then a man could say that he loves pizza and his family with the same love.

For example, Isaac expressed love for savoury meat in Genesis 27, and two chapters later, Jacob expressed love for Rachel:

And make me savoury meat, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat; that my soul may bless thee before I die.
-Genesis 27:4

And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her.
Genesis 29:20

Both men had a pleasing sensation in both instances for different objects of affection, but the point I am making is this: When I am very hungry, I have a love for the meals my wife cooks because they provide me with an exciting and pleasing sensation. However, my love for my wife is quite different because when she fails to prepare a meal that has good flavor, it does not give me a pleasing sensation, and therefore, I do not love it, but though my wife's actions caused a displeasing sensation, my love towards my wife still remains.

This begs the question: Why is it that my love for a meal is determined by a pleasing sensation, but my love for my wife is not? I experienced having an abusive wife early on in my marriage (i.e. she is no longer this way, but was in the beginning), but I continued to love her anyway. If the definition of love is solely found in the concept of pleasurable sensations, how is it that I was able to continue to love my wife, even when she did things that did not give me a pleasurable sensation? Just by this thought alone, we can conclude that the general definition of love that the world uses in most cases is NOT the full understanding of how it is used in most instances of Scripture.

Evidence of this can be seen in John 3:16, which we read at the beginning of this teaching. It says that God so loved the world, and sadly, this is often taken to mean that God had a warm, gooey feeling inside of Him for the world, which is not the case because the world is full of wickedness, and it is impossible for God to look on wickedness and be pleased.

Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back,
my soul shall have no pleasure in him.
-Hebrews 10:38

To demonstrate this point, let's look at other verses on loving the world:

Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
-1 John 2:15-17

So in John 3, we are told that God loved the world, but in First John 2 (i.e. another verse by the same author, led by the Holy Spirit to write both books), we are told it is wrong for us to love the world. Why would God do something that He told us was wrong to do? It makes no sense for God to do something which He told us is not of Him.

The answer is found in the definition of 'love', and that the fact that Biblical love is NOT a warm, gooey feeling inside, meaning that our feelings can align with true love, but it is not the foundation of it. Based on the above definitions of love, it is obvious that the Lord God does not have a pleasurable sensation when He looks upon the world (because if He did, He would have had no reason to destroy it with a global flood, Gen 6:5), nor does He expect us to have a pleasurable sensation about the world either, but rather, because of His great kindness, He has benevolence and goodwill towards the world.

benevolence (n): the disposition to do good; good will; kindness; charitableness; an act of kindness; good done; charity given
(See 'benevolence', American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster, 1828, retrieved July 26, 2022, [webstersdictionary1828.com])

There is a core connection between love and charity, meaning that one cannot truly exist without the other. Charity is a selfless sacrifice, in which someone freely gives something that is not deserved or earned, and therefore, love has a foundation in charity.

This is how it is possible for us to love our enemies, as Christ commanded:

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?
-Matthew 5:44-46

If love is simply an emotion or pleasing sensation, how are we supposed to have a pleasing sensation about someone who hates, curses, uses, abuses, and persecutes us? Do we Christians find ourselves with a pleasurable sensation to listen to people scoff at the Lord Jesus Christ? Of course we do not, so how is it possible to love our enemies? The answer is that Biblical love is different from worldly love because worldly love follows and worships the emotions of the flesh and the heart, whereas Biblical love is a selfless sacrifice of kindness on behalf of someone else.

When God looks into the world, He sees the depravity and destruction of sin and wickedness, and therefore, it is a great act of benevolence for God to love people who have turned their backs on Him. Not only did He show them benevolence by making the rain to fall and the sun to shine, that they might have food to eat, but He showed the greatest act of charity that goes far beyond the capabilities of mankind, and that was to give us His own Son.

But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
-Romans 5:10

At one time, we Christians were enemies of God, but He loved us, even as enemies. What man would love his enemy enough to sacrifice his own son for him? Therefore, the love of God is demonstrated by His selfless sacrifice for us, that the blood of His Son would pay for the sins of men, that they might come to repentance (i.e. grief and godly sorrow) of their sin and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and be given the gift of remission (i.e. forgiveness/pardoning) of the debt of sin.
(Read There is No Saving Grace Without Repentance here at creationliberty.com for more details.)

And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught you publickly, and from house to house, Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
-Acts 20:20-21

And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
-Luke 24:44-47

When someone bases their love for another solely on emotions (i.e. pleasant feelings), then that person will eventually fall into perdition because they have not understood that love in the flesh is very different than love in the spirit. The love of the flesh can be dangerous because the flesh serves the law of sin, and so for a man to follow what he feels, without spiritual discernment, can lead him into destruction.

But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
-Romans 7:23

For example, it should be understood that mothers do not have a great inward desire to change diapers, meaning that they do not look upon a baby's dirty diaper and have an overwhelming feeling of euphoria that their life's purpose is fulfilled by having to clean up the mess. However, the mother shows her act of kindness to the baby by cleaning her child, demonstrating love by action, and if the baby throws a fit and cries, she does the right thing for the benefit of her child anyway, even when she does not feel like doing it.

Therefore, once again, it can be easily demonstrated that true, Biblical love is not an emotion. Although one's emotions can coincide with love, the core of love is for us to do what is right over what is convenient, making a selfless sacrifice for others, especially when it does not benefit us in any way.

Look not every man on his own things,
but every man also on the things of others.
-Philippians 2:4

This is not to say that a man should not look to his own things because that is the necessity of every man. However, we ought to look on the things of others and consider them as well, treating others the way we would want to be treated, which is the culmination (i.e. combined lessons and fulfillment) of all the law and prophets.

Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.
-Matthew 7:12

I have heard some sad stories from children who, for example, had a mother who never kept her word, meaning that she would lie to them by making a promise, and then not keep that promise. She would say she would come pick them up from school, and never show up. She would say she would help them with a project, and would never be there. Once the child became a teenager, after the mother broke her word countless times, she would say "I love you" to the teen, and the teen not only did not believe her, the teen would be disgusted that she had the nerve to say those words.
(Read "God Does Not Justify Lies" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)

Did the mother have a warm feeling inside about her teenage child? Perhaps, but that is not the essence of love, and instinctually, the child knows that.

Let's look at a more specific testimony to gain a better understanding. I found the testimony of a young lady named Karen, who talked about her experiences with her mother:
"I am so tired of the empty promises my parents always give me. My mom and I would plan all week to go out on the weekend. Then when Friday makes it's [sic] way around, she goes out with her friends! She comes home and says 'I'm tired honey, you understand. Maybe next time'... I hate having my time wasted! It's like my time does not matter to her. If I say something about it, She turns the tables on me! I'm coming to the point where when someone makes me a promise I don't even get my hopes up. When you hope you only get shot down. There's no point in it."
-karen1752000, "I Hate My Parents," experienceproject.com, retrieved Jun 2, 2015, [experienceproject.com/stories/Hate-My-Parents/1546588]

It is sad to hear about a mother who is so selfish and willingly blind, she does not acknowledge or care that she is destroying an extremely valuable concept within her daughter. Hope is a very important concept for women because hope is what keeps them motivated to continue the day-to-day routine of caring for their husbands and family, even through rough times, and when hope is destroyed in a young woman, it can ruin her opportunity to find a strong and caring man, or even good friends in general, because she will have a sick heart, having no trust in anyone, which is a vital component to friendship and marriage.

Hope deferred maketh the heart sick:
but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.
-Proverbs 13:12

Of course, if love were only a pleasing sensation, one could argue that the mother truly loves her daughter, as many foolish women might try to argue, but by the conscience given to us by God (Rom 2:15), we know that is not the truth. In fact, we can go one step further and declare that the mother HATES her daughter because the Word of God has told us that is the truth:

A lying tongue hateth those that are afflicted by it;
and a flattering mouth worketh ruin.
-Proverbs 26:28

afflict (v): to give to the body or mind pain which is continued or of some permanence; to grieve, or distress; to trouble
(See 'afflict', American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster, 1828, retrieved Aug 2, 2022, [webstersdictionary1828.com])

Let the lying lips be put to silence; which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous.
-Psalm 31:18

He that hideth hatred with lying lips, and he that uttereth a slander, is a fool.
-Proverbs 10:18

But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.
-Matthew 12:36

Perhaps the mother might argue that she did not ever "promise" her daughter that she would do the things she said she would do, but she gave her word, and that is a promise. In the Bible, God never said "I promise I will do this," but rather, He gave His word that He would do it, and His words are called the promises of God.
(Read "God Does Not Justify Lies" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)

That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
-Galatians 3:14

At that point, no amount of vain "I love you" speeches from a mother can make up for a mountain of lies, and it should be noted that the Bible never uses the phrase "I love you" in that way. The closest verse to that phrase comes from Paul in Second Corinthians, but he never directly said that because he pointed out that the evidence of his love towards his brethren was seen by his actions, and witnessed by God, which was enough.

Wherefore? because I love you not? God knoweth. But what I do, that I will do, that I may cut off occasion from them which desire occasion; that wherein they glory, they may be found even as we.
-2 Corinthians 11:11-12

If a mother keeps her word to her child, provides for her child, and guides her child in wisdom and understanding, she can go her entire life and NEVER ONCE say the words "I love you." One does not have to say it if one SHOWS it by making a selfless sacrifice for someone else.

For example, I cannot recall a single instance in which my parents ever told me that they loved me, and that has NEVER once bothered me, nor have I had any desire for them to do so. In fact, I think it would be ridiculous for them to say such a thing because they have proven their love for me through their actions, so the only reason they would need to say it is if I were deaf, blind, and stupid.

Perhaps some readers have parents who do not love them in the same way, but even if that were the case, there would be no need to say "I love you" in that manner. In short, the phrase "I love you" is a bit of a catch-22, meaning that if one says it without evidence, it is hypocritical and deceptive, and if one says it with evidence, it is redundant, and I would argue that, outside of saying such a thing to a small child to educate them on the meaning of the word 'love', in both cases, it is pointless.

If you read through the Four Gospels of the New Testament, you will notice that Jesus never once directly told us that He loves us, neither did He have a need to say it. I know that the Lord Jesus Christ loves me because of what He did for me, and therefore, we know that love is not just an excited sensation, but rather, it is the consistency of selfless action for another.

In another example, I cannot recall one instance over the past decade that I have told my wife that I love her, and she has never been bothered by that. Why? Because she already knows that I do by my patience with her, my understanding with her, and my dutifulness in giving her all my resources for her benefit. Likewise, my wife does not tell me she loves me either, but I have never once been bothered by that because she does much for me and our household, so I know she loves me without her ever having to say it.

This is why I say that the phrase "I love you" is nonsensical, because if a man has demonstrated selfless sacrifice for another, saying "I love you" is meaningless because his love is obvious, but if he is selfish and shows no actions of love, then saying "I love you" is meaningless because there is no proof. Sadly, most people have spent far too long educating themselves in front of a television, and have lost interest in the importance of true love.

The Bible often speaks of the love of God to educate mankind about God's love because we tend to take advantage of His kindness and patience. Because we are selfish in the sinful flesh, we need to be educated and disciplined in the spirit concerning love.

In Romans 12, Paul gives commandments from the Holy Spirit for the church concerning how we are to love one another:

Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another; Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord; Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer; Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.
-Romans 12:9-13

dissimulation (n): a hiding under a false appearance; a feigning; false pretension; hypocrisy
(See 'dissimulation', American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster, 1828, retrieved Aug 2, 2022, [webstersdictionary1828.com])

The first thing Paul said is that love should be without any kind of false appearance, and according to his epistle (i.e. letter), the way we do this is by performing loving actions, which hate evil and welcome good. We love one another by being kind to each other in the way brothers should be, honoring and favoring one another, being hard workers, hospitable to one another, and urgent in our prayers for the mercy of God, while distributing the blessings of our resources to others in the church as they have need.

Paul said that we ought to be affectionate towards each other, which is to have a passionate attachment, but specifically, he said "kindly affectioned," which is more to the point. As I said earlier, one can have affection for pizza as much as a parent, but kindness is an act of good will on behalf of another, which demonstrates love with proof, or in other words, love that is founded upon charity.

One of the fascinating points about love is that there is no fear in it:

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
-1 John 4:18

This is not talking about the fear of God, which is a foundation to wisdom (Pro 9:10), but rather, about the fear of men, which is a prison of the mind and tongue. (Pro 29:25) True love is founded on faith, which is a trust in the goodness and mercies of God, even in our dealings with mankind.

This is one of the reasons the Lord Jesus Christ had to come to set us at liberty, because there is no love in the fear of obligation.

obligation (n): that which constitutes legal or moral duty, and which renders a person liable to coercion and punishment for neglecting it; any act by which a person becomes bound to do something to or for another, or to forbear something
(See 'obligation', American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster, 1828, retrieved Aug 17, 2022, [webstersdictionary1828.com])

For example, when someone has a birthday in our society, it is seen as a moral duty to wish that person well and/or get that person a gift for their birthday, but if you do not remember that person's birthday, or get that person a gift, it is seen as an insult that can often end in scorn. What many people do not understand is that this expectation of receiving good wishes and gifts creates an obligation, which comes from fear of retaliation for not doing the expected deed or saying the expected words, and thus, fear eliminates the liberty needed for true love.
(Read "Why I Don't Celebrate Birthdays" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)

To understand this more clearly, let's consider which is better: To receive a gift on one's birthday, or to receive a gift at a random time for no reason whatsoever? I would ask readers to think carefully before answering because to receive a gift for a birthday means that the main purpose of the gift is to observe/follow the customs and rituals that society has placed on the event, but to receive a gift at a random time shows that the person who gave you the gift had no other intention in mind, no other obligation to follow, and no other social pressure to succumb to, other than they were thinking of you and your well being, which is a far greater gift because it expresses true love.

Sadly, many of the customs and rituals of our society exist because, without them, most people would not think about and do much for each other. Therefore, we disciples of Christ, who study the Word of God and apply it to our lives, should have a better understanding, and practice a better example, of our Heavenly Father's perfect love for others to witness.

Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
-Matthew 5:15-16

Most readers understand love in terms of gifts and alms, but to get to the finer definition, there are acts of love that do not seem loving to most people, and this is often demonstrated when the truth is presented to someone who does not want to hear the truth. For example, the Lord Jesus Christ is well known to have been loving towards others while He was on the earth, healing people, feeding them, and even raising the dead (as well as many other acts that are not documented in Scripture, John 21:25), but despite His demonstration of love, He was hated by the majority of those who claimed to be the servants of God, and it was always His doctrine that offended them.

To demonstrate this point, let's look at John 8:

Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
-John 8:31-32

It is quite common for churchgoers and others to say "the truth shall set you free," but in my experience in talking with those people, a large majority are completely ignorant of the condition attached to this statement. Jesus Christ told us that the truth would make us free, but the truth He was referring to was His Word, and only if we would continue in it (i.e. to study, understand, and apply it to our lives) would we be made free.

The interesting thing about that statement is that the regeneration of the Holy Spirit inside of a man is a requirement to be able to understand the Word of God in the first place, and therefore, in order for a man to be set free, he must first be born again:

But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
-1 Corinthians 2:14

Notice also that, in verse 31, Jesus was speaking to a whole crowd of people who believed on Him. This is what Jesus said to those believers:

Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? He that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.
-John 8:42-47

Jesus told the crowd of believers on Him that they were of the Devil. Do people like to be told they are of the Devil? In most cases, no. So was this a loving speech? Yes, it was loving, because there is nothing more loving than the truth.

Why is the truth the most loving thing you can say to a person, even when they hate you for it? Because without the Lord God giving a man a love of the truth, he cannot be saved because the very premise behind salvation is the truth.

And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
-2 Thessalonians 2:10

In the context of this verse, the final antichrist (i.e. "the son of perdition") will come to this world working signs and lying wonders, but those miraculous things will be done by the power of Satan, not the power of God, even though God will allow Satan to do these things for a time to serve God's plan. There will be many who claim to be the servants of Christ who will follow the final antichrist, being willingly ignorant of the truth, and because they had no love of the truth, they will not be saved from God's wrath, nor will they be saved from hell and the lake of fire.
(Read "Hell is Real and Many People Are Going There" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)


So Jesus said that the crowd, namely, those who professed to believe on Him, were of the Devil. They argued with Him, and He revealed His divinity to them, and what was their reaction to this statement?

Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.
-John 8:59

As I pointed out in the picture above, the truth sounds like hate to those who hate the truth, and if given the opportunity, there are some who are willing to kill to prevent the truth about them from being heard. However, there is nothing more loving than the truth, and that is why Jesus told the truth wherever He went, even though people hated Him for it.

According to the world today, if you say something negative that makes someone feel bad or uncomfortable, it is considered "hate speech." I am not just talking about the corruptions of woke liberals in politics, but rather, this corrupt philosophy has (sadly) also been adopted by most churchgoers around the world, despite the fact that Jesus told us that if we do the right and loving thing for others by telling them the truth, they will hate us just as much as they hated Him.

If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me. If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin. He that hateth me hateth my Father also.
-John 15:18-23

The reason they (i.e. the world, including many churchgoers) hate us born again Christians so much is because when we show them what the Word of God says, how the Bible contradicts the things they say and do, it reveals the idolatry and other such wickedness in their hearts. Do we say these things that they might be hurt? No, we say them so they might come to repentance (i.e. godly sorrow) of them. That is why Jesus said that when He came to this world and spoke to the people, it took away the cloak that covered their sin, and therefore, when we do the same, shining our light in the darkness, they hate us for shining light, even though we have no ill will towards them.

If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin.
-John 15:22

And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
-John 3:19-21

Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?
-Galatians 4:16

Speaking the truth of God's Word is an act of love that is called "hate," meaning that it does not give most people a pleasing sensation to hear or read. Therefore, we can see that love is not a warm, gooey feeling inside, but rather, it is a selfless kindness to others, in which we offer ourselves up to be jeered, hated, and assaulted that some might hear the truth so they could be born again in Jesus Christ and gain eternal life.

The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.
-Proverbs 11:30

We who are of Christ, and have understanding of His promises, can suffer these things willingly without fear or depression, knowing that we stand with Christ in our afflictions, to suffer as He did.

If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
-John 15:18-19

If many in this world do not hate you for what you teach, then you are not loving them because you are teaching some other doctrine that has twisted the Word of God.

Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.
-Luke 6:22-23

We will cover more Scripture on love soon, but before we do, let's take a look at some new-age religious teachers to see what they are saying about love. For example, false teacher Patricia Jones of the Dove Christian Counseling Center, in an article entitled "Learning to Love Yourself," attempted to teach people to love themselves more because she believes they do not love themselves enough.

She began by quoting a man saying, "You demonstrate love by giving it unconditionally to yourself," and then went on to say:
"People who have been abused for most of their lives are very down on themselves. They feel worthless and lonely. Because love has never been without conditions for them. They feel like Cinderella who had to earn every single bit of kindness that she got from the Queen and two ugly step-sisters. However, deep inside her heart Cinderella knew that she was a good, kind and decent person who did not deserve such despicable treatment. Somewhere deep inside of her there lived that spark of self-love. And she held out hope that someday, she would be released from the prison that she was in and find her Prince."
-Patricia Jones, "Learning to Love Yourself," Dove Online Christian Counseling Center, retrieved Feb 28, 2019, [dovechristiancounseling.com/Learniing-to-Love-Yourself.html]

This false doctrine of "learning to love yourself" is so commonly preached in corrupt church buildings today, many people around the world have heard of it at some point. It is a very popular and very wrong doctrine, and the general concept is this: "If you do not love yourself first, you cannot love anyone else."

This is a distortion of Christ's great commandment to the church:

Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
-Matthew 23:36-40

In Jones' article, she quoted many Bible verses about loving your neighbor as yourself, and then went on to argue that people really need to love themselves more, but telling people that they need to learn to love themselves first before they can love others is a lie. The problem with that doctrine is that people ALREADY love themselves automatically, and false teachers like Jones try to convince them that they do not.

I remember when I was a teenager, I was very depressed and had a lot of suicidal thoughts, and there was a time I pointed a large hunting knife at my stomach and asked myself why I should not run it through my body and kill myself. In the end, I did not do it because I had been taught God's law, "Thou shalt not kill," (Exd 20:13) and therefore, I reasoned within myself that taking my own life would be killing. However, during those years in my life, even though I may not have realized it, I had always loved myself, and the evidence was clear because I would clothe myself, I fed myself, I put on a coat when I was cold, I sought shade from the heat, I drank when I was thirsty, I bathed, I slept in my bed, and I did many other small things for myself that are loving to oneself even when I was depressed with suicidal thoughts, but what I lacked was loving the Lord God and my neighbors in the same way.

A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
-John 13:34

This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
-John 15:12

Loving your neighbor as yourself does NOT mean you need a six-week psychological training course in learning how to love yourself because people, including those who are sad or depressed, love themselves all the time, but the real problem is that we need to learn to love OTHERS in the same way we already love ourselves. Jones teaches a false message that "one cannot love another correctly UNTIL they love themselves correctly," treating it like God slipped on a proverbial banana peel and forgot to include that note in the Bible. The fact is that you will love yourself up until the moment you die, and that loving yourself is not the problem, which is why the Bible NEVER talks about "learning to love yourself," but rather, the Bible warns us about those who will be lovers of their own selves instead of others, and be lovers of pleasurable sensations more than lovers of God.

This know also, that in the last days perilous [dangerous] times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady [rash, hasty], highminded [proud, arrogant], lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
-2 Timothy 3:1-4

If a man wants to cure himself of depression, then he needs to stop being so self-centered, and start to think about how to love others. When a man thinks of nothing but himself, which is what happens when he is depressed, then it creates a downward spiral of a "woe is me" attitude that will never end until he comes to the realization that he already loves himself more than anyone else, and therefore, he must learn to love God and his neighbor as much, if not more, than himself.

Jones also revealed her lack of understanding of the Word of God when she said, "deep inside her heart Cinderella knew that she was a good, kind and decent person," because that philosophy (i.e. way of thinking) is anti-Biblical. The truth is that there is no one good in this world, and that only God is good.

As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
-Romans 3:10-12

For example, when the wealthy ruler came to Jesus Christ and called Him "Good Master," Jesus rebuked him:

And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.
-Matthew 19:16-17

Of course, we know that Jesus Christ is God (John 14:8-9), and Jesus is not only good, but He is the standard of all goodness, so that leaves us with an obvious question: Why would He rebuke the wealthy ruler for calling Him "good" when He is good? The answer is that the wealthy ruler did not believe that Jesus is God (i.e. he only believed that Jesus was a normal man who prophesied), and Jesus answered him according to his folly (Pro 26:5), namely, that he should not believe that any man is good of himself, and that the only way a man can be inwardly good is through the Holy Ghost working in him.

It is clear that Jones has no understanding of this, and accepts a new-age false gospel that people are inwardly "good" by default. This is one of the many false doctrines that is preached through so-called "Christian" psychology, which is no more Christian than a "Christian" toilet flush.

There is a way which seemeth right unto a man,
but the end thereof are the ways of death.
-Proverbs 14:12

The following is from Paul Meier, a so-called "Christian" psychiatrist, who owns and operates Meier Clinics, which is a counseling institution that has locations in at least nine U.S. states:
"[People] who don't love themselves in a healthy way will find it impossible to develop genuine love relationships with others. Two of the most important concepts I learned from my psychiatric training, both of which are totally with scripture, are: (1) you cannot truly love others until you learn to love yourself in a healthy way; (2) lack of self-worth is the basis of most psychological problems."
-Paul D. Meier (Psychiatrist) & Donald E. Ratcliff, Christian Child-rearing and Personality Development, Baker Publishing Group, 1993, ISBN: 9780801056116

Meier is wrong, and wrong again. Neither point is "totally with scripture," but it is expected that someone who claims to be a "Christian" psychiatrist would delude himself into thinking he has understanding of the Bible because he needs other people to believe that so he can make money in his businesses.

I have a book called Psychology: Hoodwinked by the Devil, which is free-to-read here at creationliberty.com, and I go over the corrupt history of psychology and psychiatry, demonstrating that "mental illness" does not exist. The entire industry of psychology is centered around witchcraft and sorcery parading itself as so-called "science," and that psychiatrists adopt the exact same methods that eastern mystics and witchdoctors use.

Along with his friend and psychologist Frank Minirth, Paul Meier said:
"Getting guidance from a knowledgeable Christian pastor or professional counsellor can help bring about victory over life's seemingly overwhelming stresses. To obtain and apply to one's life good-quality Christian counselling is synonymous with discipleship. God sanctifies many people (brings them toward Christ-likeness in their attitudes and behaviour) through confrontation by loving and insightful friends, pastors, counsellors—and even psychiatrists sometimes. Don't ever be ashamed to get counselling when going through life's stresses."
-Paul Meier & Frank Minirth, Happiness Is a Choice, Monarch Books, 1995, ISBN: 9781854243058

Just to clarify, the word 'Christian' means "Christ-like," which denotes a disciple (i.e. student) of Christ, in that a student will be like unto his master (i.e. teacher). Meier stated his belief that God brings people to "Christ-likeness" through psychiatrists, not through Scripture, meaning that he believes that salvation can be found through the devilish deception of psychology.

Notice that Meier never said that the wisdom of God will help a man overcome stress, but rather, he said that proper "professional" counseling is what is needed, or in other words, he means someone who has professional training in clinical psychology. In the eyes of psychologists, the Holy Spirit of God and Christ's church are not sufficient, but rather, wolves like Paul Meier argue that no one can truly be "Christ-like" (i.e. a Christian) unless they adopt the philosophy of Sigmund Freud, a man who hated the Christian God of the Bible.

Some readers may be surprised by Paul Meier's statement, but in my experience in dealing with many pastors and so-called "Christian" counselors over the years, this does not surprise me in the least. This is exactly what I have experienced in working with various church-ianity leaders in my early days of ministry, and sadly, it is what I have come to expect for the most part when I occasionally run into them still today. The reason most churchgoers cannot see this clearly is because they have been trained to rely on so-called "Christian" psychological counseling (i.e. when they have a problem, go to the pastor instead of going to God and His Word), and most of them have no clue how much corrupt money is really flowing through it all.

So to address Meier's first point, that "you cannot truly love others until you learn to love yourself," there is no place in Scripture where that doctrine is taught. The closest he could get to such a doctrine is from Ephesians 5:28, but even then, for a man to love himself, the Bible tells us that he must love someone else first.

So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies.
He that loveth his wife loveth himself.
-Ephesians 5:28

In this passage, we read Paul commanding the Ephesian men to love their wives as their own bodies. This means that men ALREADY love their own bodies (i.e. providing food, drink, clothing, and shelter for themselves) automatically without any commandment for them to "love themselves." Thus, Paul (by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God) commanded them to love others as themselves.

Paul explains this further in the next verse:

For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:
-Ephesians 5:29

Thus, Paul's sound argument is that everyone in this world loves themselves automatically, including the most depressed people in the world. This is why the law is completely fulfilled in one commandment:

For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this;
Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
-Galatians 5:14

This leads us to address the flaw in Meier's second point, that "lack of self-worth is the basis of most psychological problems." Things that are labeled "mental illness" today would be most accurately defined as "disease mongering," meaning they are trying to sell you a "sickness" that is not a sickness at all, but rather, it is an excuse to justify sin.

For example, this is a chart from my book, Psychology: Hoodwinked by the Devil, showing various "mental illnesses" labeled by psychologists, that are just sins:
These so-called "Christian" psychologists and psychiatrists are attempting to mask sin by relabeling wickedness as "mental illness," and therefore, people can then believe they are "sick" and can get sympathy from society (while being pumped full of pharmaceutical medication that will kill them). Thus, Meier encourages people to increase their "self-worth," which is another label for the sin of pride.
(Read "The Biblical Understanding of Pride" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)

pride (n): inordinate [excessive] self-esteem; an unreasonable conceit of one's own superiority in talents, beauty, wealth, accomplishments, rank or elevation in office
(See 'pride', American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster, 1828, retrieved Aug 4, 2022, [webstersdictionary1828.com])

Please do not misunderstand; every person in this world has worth to some degree (i.e. depending on how you define 'worth'), but raising someone's self-worth is NOT taught in the Bible to be the philosophy of Christ.

Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy [a way of thinking] and vain deceit [useless lies], after the tradition of men, after the rudiments [first teachings you learn] of the world, and not after Christ.
-Colossians 2:8

When Job was rebuked by God, he did NOT fall on his knees and cry out, "Woe is me! For I love not myself!" Job repeated God's demand of an answer from Job for the many mind-boggling questions God asked him, and Job responded:

I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.
-Job 42:5-6

abhor (v): to hate extremely, or with contempt; to lothe, detest or abominate
(See 'abhor', American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster, 1828, retrieved Aug 9, 2022, [webstersdictionary1828.com])

Job said that he hated himself to the extreme, and humbled himself before God. Job was one of the wealthiest men in all the land, but God allowed Satan to strip Job of everything he had (even his wife and children), but after Job humbled himself before God and was repentant of his sins, God gave Job much more than he had at the beginning. (Job 42:12)

When Paul said that the flesh serves the law of sin, and wars continually against the spirit of our minds, he did NOT say that he just needed to learn to love himself more.

O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
-Romans 7:24

wretched (adj): worthless, paltry, despicable, hatefully vile and contemptible
(See 'wretched', American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster, 1828, retrieved Aug 4, 2022, [webstersdictionary1828.com])

While psychologists and so-called "Christian" counselors teach people the philosophy (i.e. way of thinking) that they should gain self-esteem, the Bible teaches that we ought to esteem others better than ourselves, and think on the things of others as much as we do for ourselves.

Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.
-Philippians 2:2-4

This is the selfless love that the Bible teaches us, not a fake version of so-called "love" that is self-centered. These false teachers speak highly of the "love of God," but do not understand it because the Bible tells us that the love of God is to keep His commandments, and His commandment is to love our neighbor as we ALREADY love ourselves.

Grace be with you, mercy, and peace, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love. I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth, as we have received a commandment from the Father. And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another. And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.
-2 John 1:3-6

And once again, that commandment is very simple. We ought to make selfless sacrifices for one another, which is the true essence of love.

If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture,
Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well:
-James 2:8

Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
-1 John 5:1-3

What we need to learn is to hate (i.e. extremely dislike) ourselves as we are in the flesh, and to see how vile and worthless we are in the sight of God. Then, after abasing ourselves, the Lord Jesus Christ will lift us up according to His gifts of mercy and wisdom.

Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ. But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.
-Matthew 23:10-12

He that is greatest in the church should be lowest, and he that is the lowest should serve others. In other words, those who are greatest in the church are those who love (i.e. selflessly sacrifice for others) the most, and it is Christ who lifts them up.

While I was searching for teachings on this topic, I came across a video by an Ohio pastor named Ronald Schoenherr, who preached a lot of corrupt and twisted doctrine on God's love in a very short amount of time: (A preacher teaching the "love yourself" message.)

In the video, Schoenherr said:
"Does God love you the way that you are? Absolutely."
-Ronald Schoenherr, "Do You Love Yourself - Pathways To Wholeness," Pathways2Wholeness, May 3, 2013, retrieved Aug 4, 2022, [https://youtu.be/nzzk06T0eEE?t=33]

Some readers may be surprised to learn that this is a wildly false statement, but if we consider the Word of God for a moment, it is simple to discern that this is a lie because if God loved us "just the way we are," then there would have been no need for the law, no need for the prophets to prophesy, and no need for Jesus Christ to come to this world to die on the cross and save us. The key to understanding this is to look at the definitions of the word 'love' that we have already covered in this teaching.

When God looks on men, He sees the thoughts of the heart, and in the thoughts of the heart, he sees evil.

And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
-Genesis 6:5

God did not look on this with a pleasurable sensation because it repented Him, meaning that it grieved Him in His heart. In fact, it grieved Him so much, He destroyed all men except Noah and his family (and saved two of each kind of animal, and seven of some kinds for repopulation).

And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
-Genesis 6:6-7

So we could say that the love of God, in terms of His charity towards mankind, is unconditional in the sense that He makes the rain to fall and the sun to shine on both the good and the evil of this world:

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.
-Matthew 5:44-45

So, we love those in the world in the sense that we do good unto them, and pray for them that hate us and abuse us, just as God loves them in the sense that he does good for those who hate Him. However, Schoenherr is using the word 'love' in a "pleasant feeling" sense, and that sort of love IS conditional because, if we look in Scripture, God told the Jews He would hear them, heal them, and forgive their sins, but only under certain conditions:

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
-2 Chronicles 7:14

They first needed to come to repentance (i.e. godly sorrow of their sins), and then turn from their wicked deeds because God did not love them the way they were. In the New Testament, we have better promises from Jesus Christ, but they are also conditional:

Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
-Matthew 6:31-33

In fact, salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ is also conditional. We must be humbled to repentance (i.e. grief and godly sorrow of our sins) and come to faith in Christ to be saved, which means that God's love has conditions.
(Read "There is No Saving Grace Without Repentance" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)

He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.
-John 12:48

But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
-James 4:6-10

The phrase "unconditional love" can be very deceptive depending on how it is used because love in the sense of making a selfless sacrifice on behalf of another can come without condition depending on the circumstances, but to love in the sense of having a pleasing sensation about another absolutely does NOT come without conditions. Any parent who has a rebellious child can fully understand this concept because even though you may favor your child, and even though you may provide for and help that child despite his attitude towards you (which is a form of love), you do not have a pleasing sensation (i.e. love) towards him because of his arrogance, pride, and vanity which are displeasing in your sight.

Thus, a parent might love and not love a child at the same time, depending on how you define it. Just as God can be loving towards someone whose actions and philosophies He hates, we can do the same to our neighbors, which is how we can love our neighbor without loving the world.

Sadly, many churchgoers around the world are learning a false, new-age doctrine that God loves everyone no matter what, and that is leading people away from the doctrine of repentance (i.e. godly sorrow) and remission (i.e. forgiveness) of sins, in which a man comes to acknowledge the truth of his own worthless, vile, and wretched state, and is humbled before God.

And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
-Luke 24:47

Schoenherr then goes on to say:
"[God] also says that you're to love your neighbor as yourself, correct? Okay, when I asked you, how many of you love yourself exactly the way that you are, nobody raised your hand. So how do you love God properly when you can't love yourself properly? How do you love your neighbor properly when you can't love yourself properly?"
-Ronald Schoenherr, "Do You Love Yourself - Pathways To Wholeness," Pathways2Wholeness, May 3, 2013, retrieved Aug 4, 2022, [https://youtu.be/nzzk06T0eEE?t=51]

First of all, if you listen to the video, you will notice that, when Schoenherr poses these questions, he gives the audience about one second or less to think about the question, and then he answers the question for them. So when he asked them "how many of you love yourself exactly the way that you are," they did not have any time to consider the question before he put words in the mouth of the audience, which is a completely deceptive form of so-called "teaching."

Under normal circumstances, if an audience was asked to raise their hands if they loved themselves exactly the way you are, and no one in the audience raised their hands, that should be a GOOD thing! If we acknowledge the wickedness of our flesh, there are many things about ourselves we would like to change, and knowing that we have to discipline ourselves daily to resist the temptations of sin in the flesh, we know that, without Jesus Christ regenerating our spirits through the Holy Ghost, we are worse than the dust of the ground because, at the very least, dirt does not sin.

So when Schoenherr's audience did not respond to his question, they were examining themselves, and considering that they were not good in all areas, which is what we Christians are supposed to do:

Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?
-2 Corinthians 13:5

But that is not what Schoenherr wanted them to do because he was trying to take away that humility, and lift them up their pride. He wanted them to think very highly of themselves, and tried to teach them that it was impossible for them to keep Christ's great commandment unless they first increased their own love for themselves, and once again, that is the opposite of what the Bible teaches us.

This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
-2 Timothy 3:1-2

Notice that Schoenherr told his audience that they could not love themselves "properly," even though (as we have already learned in this teaching) we know that is not true because all men automatically love themselves to the fullest extent. This means that Schoenherr is implying that there is a secret, hidden wisdom about loving oneself that he must reveal to everyone, or they will not be able to keep the commandments of Christ, and I can tell you with certainty that is exactly the same thing religious cult gurus teach.

Be cautious with what Schoenherr says next because this is very subtle deception:
"[God] knew you before he created the universe. He knew exactly when he wanted to place you here on this earth. Did you have anything to do with your creation? [audience presumably shakes their heads to say 'No'] So you mean God wanted you here? Absolutely. So why do you think you don't love yourself?"
-Ronald Schoenherr, "Do You Love Yourself - Pathways To Wholeness," Pathways2Wholeness, May 3, 2013, retrieved Aug 4, 2022, [https://youtu.be/nzzk06T0eEE?t=90]

Please do not misunderstand anything I am teaching because, up until his last question, I agreed with everything that Schoenherr said in that quote because God is not just a God of love. The Lord God IS love.

Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.
-1 John 4:7-11

When we correlate Scripture together, we can connect God directly to His Word, that the Word of God is God, and therefore, His Word is love. Thus, to gain understanding of His Word, apply it to our lives, and teach it to others, is also love.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God.
-John 1:1

And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.
-1 John 4:16

However, God creating us does not automatically mean that He has a pleasing sensation when He looks on us. He designed us in perfection according to His will with the ability to make choices, but we have made choices of sin, corrupting that which He created, which changes the relationship.

As the Scripture says in First John, that is why God sent His Son into the world, not that He had a pleasing sensation in His heart for us, but that He had compassion, mercy, longsuffering, kindness, goodwill, and charity towards us. Therefore, as He has done these things for us, demonstrating His kindness towards us through Jesus Christ, we (who are His children, born again in Christ) ought to do them for Him and for others.

But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
-Ephesians 2:4-7

This is what it means to be "perfect before our Father in Heaven," as Jesus Christ commanded. Most corrupt preachers today teach that "no one is perfect" and that "no one can be perfect" because they teach that 'perfection' is "flawlessness," but that is not what the Bible says that Jesus Christ meant when He said that.
(Read "The Biblical Understanding of Perfection" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)

Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
-Matthew 5:48

Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.
-Luke 6:36

We know what love is by God first loving us, and then, as we have our eyes opened to see how much we already love ourselves, we should learn to love others in the same way. However, Schoenherr is teaching something very different from this, and his final question reveals how far away from God's Word he leads his listeners:
"Who has been talking to you and telling you these stories about your life to get you not to like yourself?"
-Ronald Schoenherr, "Do You Love Yourself - Pathways To Wholeness," Pathways2Wholeness, May 3, 2013, retrieved Aug 4, 2022, [https://youtu.be/nzzk06T0eEE?t=117]

So we can now confirm that Schoenherr is speaking of love in the sense of a pleasing sensation, and we can also confirm that he is a heretic, which is a man who teaches opinions contrary to the doctrine established in God's Word. The reason I have shifted to the accusation of heresy is because God has made it very clear in the Bible that there are a multitude of reasons for us not to like ourselves as we are.

In fact, when it comes to our lives in this world, Jesus told us that we will be rewarded with eternal life if we hate our lives:

He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his
life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.
-John 12:25

However, we are also told by the same author who witnessed Jesus say these things that we will be rewarded with eternal destruction if we hate our brother:

He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his
brother, is in darkness even until now.
-1 John 2:9

The Bible does NOT ask us the question, "How can we love God if we do not first love ourselves?" Rather, the Bible asks us, "How can we love God if we do not first love our neighbor?"

If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?
-1 John 4:20

Corrupt author Virginia Froehle tried to convince women in particular that they do not love themselves enough because they spend too much time loving everyone else:
"'Love your neighbor as yourself.' Many women today are realizing that they have kept the first part of this commandment too well and the second part too poorly."
-Virginia Ann Froehle, Loving Yourself More: 101 Meditations for Women, Ave Maria Press, 1993, p. 128, ISBN: 9780877935131

Froehle does not offer any Scriptural backing for this statement, nor does she understand that women often love themselves FAR more than they love others. The desire for women to have close relationships is often so strong, that women are willing to sacrifice moral principles to maintain them, and if they are scorned, they often fight back with fury that is surprising to those who judge righteous judgment.

Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.
-John 7:24
(Read "Unbiblical Cop-outs: 'Don't Judge Me!'" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)

judge (v): to compare facts or ideas, and perceive their agreement or disagreement, and thus to distinguish truth from falsehood; to discern
(See 'judge', American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster, 1828, retrieved Aug 9, 2022, [webstersdictionary1828.com])

In my book, Feminism: Castrating America (which is free to read here at creationliberty.com), I covered many details about the statistics between men and women, showing how much more common it was for women to do the wrong thing to lash out at those they hate and/or to save face. For example, in the book, I point out that the U.S. Department of Commerce statistics showed that, after a divorce, a man is much more likely to work full-time to support his children, whether he has custody of them or not, whereas women are much LESS likely to work full time to support their children, expecting men to pay for the women and children he does not get to see every day, but if women loved themselves "too poorly," we would see the opposite result.
(See Timothy Grall, "Custodial Mothers and Fathers and Their Child Support: 2011," U.S. Department of Commerce, October, 2013, p. 6, retrieved Sept 22, 2016, [https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/2013/demo/p60- 246.pdf])

Also in my book, I provide statistics to show that two out of three divorces that are filed in the United States are from women, meaning that, in most cases, men have more desire to keep the family together than women do, and men are more willing to make that selfless sacrifice than women. I point this out to demonstrate the deceptive, feminist philosophy that corrupt authors like Virginia Froehle are peddling, and if women are going to be servants of God, they should learn to love others as they already love themselves.

Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies. The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil. She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.
-Proverbs 31:10-12

For the world (i.e. those who have not been born again in Christ), the message of self-love (or self-esteem) is something they view to be desperately needed. After all, what joy is there to be had in gaining all the wealth and glory in the world, only to lose it all when you die? Therefore, depression among those of the world is a very serious problem, and one that the world will never be able to solve, no matter how many pharmaceutical drugs (i.e. sorcery) are offered for it.
(Read Psychology: Hoodwinked by the Devil here at creationliberty.com for more details.)

The only solution to the problem of depression is the Lord Jesus Christ, and once He has regenerated a man's soul, that Christian should go forward to keep the commandments of Christ. Trying to "love oneself more" will, in the end, only create MORE depression. Without the salvation of Christ and obedience to the royal law, which is to love God and our neighbors as we already love ourselves (Jms 2:8), there is no solution to depression; only temporary distractions from it, which is why those who reject Christ become addicted to the carnal pleasures of the world, and why most churchgoers obsessively preach the nonsensical doctrine, "Don't let anyone steal your joy!" all for the sake of escaping the very self-hatred that caused God to look favorably upon men like Job.

In order to escape self-abhorrence, the world turns to visual and audio entertainment (which most church buildings have grown to focus on too), as well as food, drink, and pleasure of company, all of which is designed to give pleasing sensations to the sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch; the five core sensory elements of the flesh. These are all fleeting, meaning that they must be repeated, and such things cost money, meaning that they must get out and work, not for the sake of others, but for the sake of themselves, that they might experience more pleasurable sensations, for the love of movies, the love of songs, the love of food, the love of sweet smells, and love of intimate touch, all of which are the love of one's own flesh.

The problem with many churchgoers is that they have never been humbled to repentance (i.e. grief and godly sorrow of sins), and so in the pride of their hearts, they think that because they believe the story of Jesus Christ, they are born again. However, they still remain in their lost state while deceiving themselves (and others), which is why Jesus Christ, on the final Day of Judgment, will end up turning them away to everlasting fire, even though they thought they were Christians because they made a commitment to Him.

Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
-Matthew 7:21-23
(Read Why Millions of Believers on Jesus Are Going to Hell here at creationliberty.com for more details.)

Therefore, many churchgoers are willingly blind to the fact that they are desperately seeking to be joyful in Jesus Christ BECAUSE they do not have much joy at all, but through emotional hype in "worship" sessions in church buildings, and through peer pressure, they put on a show of it. When someone who is of the world is convinced that they are of Christ, when they are really not of Christ at all, they end up desperately looking for any speck of joy they can find because, in truth, they do not have the joy of the Lord.

This results in churchgoers seeking the same entertainment of the world, which is why we have, over the past 100 years, watched most church buildings go from places to study the Word of God, to places of entertainment. This is all in an effort to artificially create sensations of joyfulness in Jesus Christ, without having any natural joyfulness in Jesus Christ which is a gift of the Holy Spirit.
(Read Christian Music: For The Love of Money here at creationliberty.com for more details.)

For example, let's take a look at a teaching called "Satan Loves Our Self-Loathing," written by corrupt preacher Julian Freeman:
"While it is appropriate to mourn our sin (Matthew 5.4), it is not appropriate to hate ourselves... in truth, God never calls us to hate ourselves."
-Julian Freeman, "Satan Loves Our Self-Loathing," Aug 25, 2016, retrieved Aug 9, 2022, [http://julianfreeman.ca/christian-life/satan-loves-self-loathing]

After all my experience in dealing with preachers, it is unsurprising to me to read Freeman (who has a "doctorate of divinity") saying something completely opposite to what we just learned in John 12:25. (i.e. "He that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.") This means that those who look upon their lives and seem to have no care for it, not in the sense of a willful neglect of duty to oneself and others, but in the sense that he is willing to throw away his life for the sake of Jesus Christ, rather than preserve it, to the dishonoring of his Master.

When a man looks upon himself, and God opens his eyes to what he is, namely, a wretched, disgusting, filthy person with a corrupt spirit, and acknowledges that he is full of abominable sins after clearly seeing them, there is no other reaction that is appropriate than tears of sorrow, grief, and shame. If that man will plead to God for His mercy, through the Lord Jesus Christ, he will be saved, and knowing that his spirit was regenerated through the grace and power of God through the Holy Spirit, he knows that all his worth in this world rests on the mercy of Jesus Christ.

This is why the "live, laugh, love" attitude of willingly blind churchgoers is so egregious. Most of them have never come to godly sorrow (i.e. repentance), and remain in the pridefulness of their hearts, running in a hopeless circle to chase the ever-elusive happy feelings they desire, and never understanding that true love, joy, and peace do not have to be chased every week in a church building when one has been humbled to repentance and born again in Christ, despite all the persecution and tribulation they suffer from the world.

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
-James 4:7-10

The Bible clearly says that if you want to be lifted up, then you need to humble yourself before the Lord Jesus Christ:

For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased;
and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
-Luke 14:11

So the contradiction that exists within many church buildings, and the problem with Freeman's writing, is that he is speaking to many people who are false converts, meaning that they believe on Jesus, but have never been given the gift of repentance, and so they are not saved, even though they have been convinced that they are saved. These people remain in the sinful pride of their hearts, and never understand why they need to have continually repeat messages from behind the pulpit about how to have faith and joy, because they cannot understand what they do not have.
(Read "Jesus Said There Are Many False Converts" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)

Therefore, in his willful blindness, Freeman argues that if one were to hate himself, it would cause him to "lose" joy:
"If I forget that the heart of the gospel is 'the Son of God loved me and gave himself for me' only to remember that I am worthy of being hated rather than loved, I will lose the joy of the gospel itself."
-Julian Freeman, "Satan Loves Our Self-Loathing," Aug 25, 2016, retrieved Aug 9, 2022, [http://julianfreeman.ca/christian-life/satan-loves-self-loathing]

This shows us evidence that Freeman has no understanding of the Gospel of Christ because the heart of the Gospel is NOT only "the Son of God loved me and gave himself for me," but rather, it must include WHY Christ gave Himself. The Lord Jesus Christ did not suffer and die on the cross because He had such a warm, gooey, inner feeling for us, but rather, it was because of His grace and mercy for the sake of corrupt, wicked men, or in other words, He showed us the true essence of love, which is selfless sacrifice for others.

For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.
-Romans 5:6-11

Therefore, knowing that Christ suffered and bled on the cross for His enemies, which is the ultimate demonstration of love, we ought to love our neighbors as we already love ourselves. Men already sacrifice much to save their own lives because they love themselves more than anything else in this world, but to practice the love of God, one must love others in the same way, doing what is right over what is convenient, and doing what is good according to the truth of God's Word, even when we are hated for our love toward others.

And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.
-Luke 6:31

As I continued to read through Freeman's ridiculous article, I was looking for something specific I suspected would probably be somewhere in it, and sure enough, I found it about halfway through:
"When I self-loathe, I am giving influence to shame. Shame isolates, and in isolation, further sin thrives, which gives pleasure to our enemy."
-Julian Freeman, "Satan Loves Our Self-Loathing," Aug 25, 2016, retrieved Aug 9, 2022, [http://julianfreeman.ca/christian-life/satan-loves-self-loathing]

I knew this condemnation of shame would be in his article because authors like Freeman are very common, and when it comes to their own corruption, they do not want to feel ashamed of the things they do, so they will preach against it. Unsurprisingly, once again, we find that the Bible does NOT teach us that shame is bad, but rather, the Bible tells us that God gives men shame for their good to humble them.

Let the proud be ashamed; for they dealt perversely with me without a cause: but I will meditate in thy precepts.
-Psalm 119:78

But thou hast saved us from our enemies,
and hast put them to shame that hated us.
-Psalm 44:7

But thou hast cast off, and put us to shame;
and goest not forth with our armies.
-Psalm 44:9

The days of his youth hast thou shortened:
thou hast covered him with shame. Selah.
-Psalm 89:45

The problem is that corrupt men who preach false messages (e.g. Freeman) are those who glory (i.e. boast and think highly of themselves) for doing and teaching things that they should be ashamed of:

For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.
-Philippians 3:18-19

Even though the purpose of shame is to humble men, and bring them to understanding of their wrongdoing, Freeman teaches that shame is dangerous. He even goes one step further to say that self-hatred is the OPPOSITE of humility:
"Self-loathing, ironically, makes much of me. How I feel about myself becomes the central, all-determining point of reality. God gives grace to the humble, but opposes the proud. It is no wonder Satan loves self-loathing: self-loathing is the opposite of godly humility."
-Julian Freeman, "Satan Loves Our Self-Loathing," Aug 25, 2016, retrieved Aug 9, 2022, [http://julianfreeman.ca/christian-life/satan-loves-self-loathing]

Much of Freeman's writing did not surprise me until this point. I was actually blown away at how much this man has deluded himself in his corrupt heart to think that self-love is humble, and that those who hate themselves cannot receive the grace of God.

To hate myself, or in other words, to despise the flesh for all its sin and vile corruptions, is to LOWER (or abase) oneself, but to love oneself, or in other words, to think highly of the flesh for being so specially created, is to LIFT UP (or exalt) oneself. Let's look more closely at the words of Jesus Christ to make sure we understand the heresies of Julian Freeman:

For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased;
and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
-Luke 14:11

abase (v): to cast down; to reduce low; to depress; to humble; to degrade
exalt (v): to raise high; to elevate in power, wealth, rank or dignity
(See 'abase' & 'exalt', American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster, 1828, retrieved Aug 10, 2022, [webstersdictionary1828.com])

Thus, Freeman's solution to being exalted is to raise himself up in his own standard of thinking by loving himself first and foremost. He abhors the idea that he should be abased, to be brought low in his thinking of himself, and this is exactly why, if God does not give him mercy to understand his folly, he will never come to the salvation of repentance and faith in Christ, namely, because in the pride of his heart, he dares to pervert the Word of God and say that being abased is sin.

The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart;
and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.
-Psalm 34:18

contrite (adj): broken-hearted for sin; deeply affected with grief and sorrow for having offended God; humble; penitent
(See 'contrite', American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster, 1828, retrieved Aug 10, 2022, [webstersdictionary1828.com])

The contrite spirit does not love himself, but rather, he looks to Christ for his salvation, goes forward faithful to do the good works He has called us to do, and allows Christ to lift him up as the Lord God wills. Through the help of the Holy Spirit to regenerate a man's corrupt soul, being born again, that man can move forward to learn to love others with good works that reflect a repentant heart. (Mat 3:8) Most churchgoers have never gone through this process, which is why they believe in the absurd heresies that spew out of the mouths of wicked men like Freeman, who parade themselves as ministers of Christ.

For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.
-2 Corinthians 11:13-15

As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest [twist, distort], as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.
-2 Peter 3:16

For many years, I have been scoffed at, abandoned, and railed upon for saying that suicidal people are lovers of their own selves. I usually get the "How dare you!" speech from scoffers until I tell them that I was a suicidal person when I was a teenager, and I can tell you from first-hand experience that the main problem with my depressed and suicidal demeanor was that I did not love God, nor did I love others around me because I was so self-focused.

Most thoughts I had were self-centered, and when I look back on my life, there was nothing I was doing charitably for anyone else, meaning that I really was not loving anyone but myself. Even under extreme depression, I made the effort to feed myself, drink when I was thirsty, sleep on a comfortable mattress with a roof over my head, shower when I was dirty, put on clean clothes to cover myself, and many other things, but what I did NOT do was consider if others around me had all they needed.

Even the thought of suicide itself is self-love, and many people do not understand this fact. If I truly loved others as myself, I would not kill myself because by doing so, I would be creating more burdens for them while eliminating my opportunities to help ease their burdens, and in reality, the only burden I have eased by killing myself would have been my own, which means...

The day you die will be the day you stop loving yourself.

There is no shortage of self-love anywhere in this world, but there is a great shortage of people loving their neighbors as themselves.

Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
-Romans 13:10

There is no place in the law which instructs us on how to love ourselves better. Even if we only look at the Ten Commandments, we can see this very clearly.

When God commanded the Jews not to have any other gods before Him (Exd 20:3), was it so they would love themselves more, or love Him more? When God commanded the Jews not to steal from others (Exd 20:15), was it so they would love themselves more, or love their neighbors more? It does not take a degree in religious studies to figure out that love is the fulfilling of all the law, and that love is to do unto others as we would have them do unto us, which requires knowing what we would do for ourselves, meaning that, if we examine ourselves with righteous judgment, we ALREADY love ourselves.

Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets. Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
-Matthew 7:12-14

What new-age church-ianity is trying to do is convince everyone that they need to think very highly of themselves, and have special inner emotions about themselves, which is the opposite of humility. But as we just read from the last corrupt preacher, there are salary-paid men standing behind the pulpits in church buildings ready to convince audiences that self-love is humility, which is not only nonsensical, it is completely unbiblical.

With each passing day, it is becoming more uncommon to find churchgoers who understand these very basic principles in Scripture, even though they all believe they understand them. However, in times past, this was more well understood, as demonstrated by Joseph Barney, a choral director, who wrote a hymn called "Love Thyself Last," which says:

LOVE THYSELF LAST Love thyself last Look near, behold thy duty To those who walk beside thee down life's road Make glad their days by little acts of beauty And help them bear the burden of earth's load

If ye love me, keep my commandments.
-John 14:15

The typical churchgoer would much rather believe themselves to be obedient to the commandments of God by looking at the feelings of their hearts, rather than examine their words and actions in comparison to Scripture. This is why the emotions of their hearts are so much more important to them than the Word of God.

He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool:
but whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered.
-Proverbs 28:26

The heart is deceitful above all things,
and desperately wicked: who can know it?
-Jeremiah 17:9

I have quoted these two verses to many churchgoers who (if they do not quickly ignore me, or block me online) immediately accuse me of taking these out of context, but these are proverbial, meaning that the context is in the verse itself. Certainly, there are many corrupt men who cherry-pick Scripture out of its context, but in the case of most churchgoers, the contextual accusation is almost always a quick one-liner defense they can put up to cover their willful ignorance because the context of Jeremiah proves my point if we continue reading:

I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings. As the partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not; so he that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a fool.
-Jeremiah 17:10-11

The heart of every man is poised to convince him that he is experiencing pleasure in corrupt things, meaning that he may love evil things and call them "good" (Isa 5:20), and so God, who knows the thoughts and intents of the heart, with all its wicked inventions and imaginations, tests the hearts of men whether they are sincere or hypocritical. God also points out men who acquire resources for themselves at the expense of others (i.e. doing that which is self-serving and self-loving), especially as many men were doing through religious means, and they will suffer dire consequences for their foolishness.

The Jews were saved and delivered by God (i.e. God brought out of the land of Egypt to the land He promised them), but they thought within their hearts that God saved them so their could follow the hearts and do all the abominations they wanted to do:

Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not; And come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations?
-Jeremiah 7:10

Today, nothing has changed. (Ecc 1:9) There are countless churchgoers who think they have been made free by Jesus Christ to follow their hearts, and do whatever abominable things they want to do.

This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
-Matthew 15:8

Not only have many churchgoers adopted the insane idea that their feelings are the foundation of love, but because the Bible tells us that God is love (1Jo 4:16), they then believe in the heretical idea the Holy Spirit is the equivalent of the feelings in their hearts. This is why you will so often hear certain phrases in church buildings, like "I felt the Spirit tell me this," or "We felt the Spirit lead us this direction." Please do not misunderstand because our feelings can sometimes align with what God commands us to do, but the feelings of our hearts are NOT a Biblically established source of communication with God, nor are they the foundation of the Holy Ghost.

However, because corrupt preachers and other churchgoers believe in such unbiblical absurdities, their philosophy (i.e. way of thinking) is that their feelings are God's communication with them. Therefore, their feelings become the final authority in all matters of faith and practice (while they give lip service to Christ and the Bible), which is why so many churchgoers become emotionally unstable the moment you quote Scripture that contradicts their preconceived opinions about love and the heart.

This is one of the many reasons that I believe that there is nothing more loving than the truth. Jesus Christ not only came here to save us by His grace, but He came here to tell us the truth, even the hard truths that many did not want to hear, and they hated Him for it (to the point they killed Him), which is His love demonstrated to us.

Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart: So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man. Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
-Proverbs 3:3-5

No matter what wild belief they might have, I have never seen a congregation of churchgoers of any kind who does not believe that Jesus Christ was loving, and yet, many of them do not consider that Jesus was NOT persecuted unto death for healing the sick, feeding the poor, and raising the dead. We need to remember that we, as mere men, believe such miracles to be wonderous and awesome, and greatly desire for such power to do the same, but in reality, what is FAR more wonderous and miraculous is the mercy of God, that He would forgive us.

However, that forgiveness is not automatic because we must acknowledge the truth in repentance (i.e. godly sorrow of our sins) and faith in Jesus Christ (i.e. His shed blood on the cross as the payment for our sins), or we will NEVER be saved from the fires of hell. Therefore, on the Day of Judgment, it will not matter how many sick people were healed, but rather, it will only matter how many people came to repentance and faith in Christ, which means that the truth is more loving than any action we may do in this world.

Keep in mind that love encompasses all acts of charity, in alms and giving to the poor and needy, as well as caring for the fatherless and widows (which is the essence of pure and undefiled religion, Jms 1:27), but many churchgoers do not understand that telling the truth is an act of love and kindness, especially when told to those who will hate you for it. The reason for this is because, unless God gives men a love of the truth, they cannot be saved, meaning that they will never seek the Christian God of the Bible, and will instead be led to seek false versions of Christ through the corrupt philosophies taught in most church buildings around the world, to fulfill the lusts and passions of their wicked hearts.

And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
-2 Thessalonians 2:10

For those readers who understand the vile, corrupt Catholic Church, and its many heresies (which you can learn more about in my free-to-read book, Corruptions of Christianity: Catholicism, here at creationliberty.com), let's consider a Catholic hospital for a moment. The Catholic Church sets up a bunch of nuns to do all the medical work (because the Catholic priests do not dirty their pristine hands with that kind of work), but once a person is supposedly healed of their ailment, they are taught Catholic doctrines and rituals, which will lead them to hell through the works-based teachings that the Catholic Church preaches against the Gospel of Christ. (e.g. Eucharist, mass, purgatory, indulgences, etc.)

Was it loving to aid the patient in their suffering? Mankind certainly views it that way, but once angels begin to throw people into the lake of fire for eternity, will it still be viewed as love?

That is a question I pondered for many years, and the more I have studied the Word of God, the more I am convinced there is much less love in this world than most people believe. The reason I say this is because the Bible makes it very clear that true love MUST come from a foundation of truth.

My little children, let us not love in word, neither
in tongue; but in deed and in truth.
-1 John 3:18

This is why, earlier, I pointed out that the Bible never uses the phrase "I love you" in the same way people normally do in our society. Love is not about having happy-go-lucky, warm feelings inside because even though we may perceive that to be love because we get a pleasurable sensation from certain people or things, that can deceive us away from the truth.

For example, I have preached the truth of God's Word to many who follow after false teachers, false prophets, and corrupt ideologies, and yet, after many years working in ministry, I have continually been called "hateful" and "unloving," most often by churchgoers. Despite this, I continue with confidence in the Word of God, that on the Day of Judgment, as nothing but a sinful man who was saved by the mercy of the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ will vindicate my efforts to warn them of the things Jesus said because I love those people enough to tell them the truth, that they might come to Christ in repentance and faith.

Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?
-Galatians 4:16

That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
-Ephesians 4:14-15

This is why when we sing praises or pray unto God, we should do it with understanding of the truth. If we do those things without the truth of His Word, then they are just worthless rituals, meaning that the truth is the most important foundation because, how can a man love God if He does not know the truth of who He is?

For God is the King of all the earth: sing ye praises with understanding.
-Psalm 47:7

What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.
-1 Corinthians 14:15

This is why it is so ridiculous for the world to refer to sexual intercourse as "making love." That is the lust of the flesh, not love. Love is not just looking favorably upon others, but also making selfless sacrifices to do things for the benefit of others.

Though love and charity must coexist together to be true, love differentiates itself from charity because charity can be done without love, meaning that someone can give something to someone else, but secretly for their own benefit. For example, such things are often done by politicians and corporate leaders to gain public influence, where they will donate money or hold an event for a cause, which is seen a "charitable" by the public, but secretly, they do it to gain power and money in the long run. This can also be seen when speaking the truth because there are those who speak the truth in hate, meaning that they use the truth for vengeful purposes, to humiliate and cause suffering. Ultimately, sincere love is charity that is done out of kindness, whether in the giving of alms or preaching the truth.

I speak not by commandment, but by occasion of the forwardness of others, and to prove the sincerity of your love.
-2 Corinthians 8:8

If we remove the Biblical understanding of love, and look at things from a completely godless worldview, like those of atheists and evolutionists, it is a curious thing how they would define the word 'love'. Of course, we all know they would give a standard dictionary definition, but they would not be able to fully answer the question if they were asked what love is, and the reason is because love is an abstract concept, or in other words, it is not concrete, meaning that you cannot see, smell, taste, touch, or hear love.

If such men (who cling to the hopeless circular reasoning of atheistic worldviews) were to define love as an emotion, then love could simply be interpreted to be a combination of chemical processes that happen in the brain, which produce a given result based on random chance interactions with persons, places, or things in the world. If that were the case, then one's love for something or someone could be altered by shifting around chemical processes in the brain, and therefore, love (in a godless worldview) would be nothing more than an illusion, and it would contain the same philosophical value as flatulence.


Furthermore, if love was based on such physical chemical reactions, how could one love his enemy, for which he has no feelings of emotional attachment? True love's primary focus is on others, rather than self, and the evidence of it is found in deed, not in words.

And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved.
-2 Corinthians 12:15

Paul not only loved the church by suffering a lot of physical and mental anguish for their sakes, but he also suffered the hatred he received when he rebuked the church. Paul wrote a lot about the grief he had from corrupt preachers who falsely accused him, and from many of the church who followed those deceitful teachers, but he suffered that grief willingly for their sakes, that they might hear the truth and follow Christ, because open rebuke is better than secret love.

Open rebuke is better than secret love.
-Proverbs 27:5

Please do not misunderstand because private rebuke among friends is typically preferred, in that one would correct someone privately to save them from suffering open shame among many people. That is also loving, showing consideration for another. However, what Solomon meant by open rebuke is that which is given plainly with faith, without mincing words, or sugar-coating it to try and make it sound light-hearted.

True love is demonstrated by a man's willingness to suffer the grief of losing his friend, if it means his friend may come to repentance (i.e. godly sorrow) of his sin, and that his soul might be saved. For a Christian to suffer his friend to sin, and act contrary to the Word of God, is the same as hating his friend, because he would rather his friend suffer curses on his household, or even death in hell, just to save himself from having some personal loss.

For example, Paul withstood Peter to his face (Gal 2:11), in front of everyone, because he loved Peter as his brother and friend. Peter acted in a manner contrary to the doctrine of Christ in a particular moment in which he was fearful of the Jews, and Paul set him straight on the matter, risking the hatefulness he might receive from others, because he loved his friend, and those who were with him.

And Jesus Christ told us that He also rebukes those who He loves:

As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
-Revelation 3:19

When we have Jesus Christ as our savior, in that we are born again through the regeneration of the Holy Ghost, and guaranteed a place in Heaven with God, what is it that we are afraid of losing? Rather, if we are faithful to His Word, we ought to be more afraid for our neighbors and other loved ones, that their souls may be lost in hell (and later the lake of fire) forever, which means that their disgruntled attitudes towards us should be a small price to pay if it means the seed of truth might be planted in their minds, and THAT is true love.

He is in the way of life that keepeth instruction:
but he that refuseth reproof erreth.
-Proverbs 10:17

Whoso loveth instruction loveth knowledge:
but he that hateth reproof is brutish.
-Proverbs 12:1

Correction is grievous unto him that forsaketh the way:
and he that hateth reproof shall die.
-Proverbs 15:10

However, to adopt the philosophy (i.e. way of thinking) of Christ (Col 2:8), which is to love our neighbors as ourselves, we must ask ourselves: If we were headed into danger, would we not want others to warn us of that danger? Therefore, we who are disciples of Christ must also ask ourselves if we love our family and friends more than we love Christ?

He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
-Matthew 10:37

As I pointed out earlier in this teaching, there is nothing more loving than the truth, and the reason for that is because the truth leads us to eternal life. If a man withholds rebuke for the sake of his own comfort, then that evidence proves that he only loves himself and hates those around him, and that his favor is primarily for his family and friends, and not for Jesus Christ.

And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.
-2 Timothy 2:24-26

For those Christians who are new, and learning about these things for the first time, please understand that love is not always natural at first. If it was automatic from the day we were born again in Christ, then we would not have any need for a commandment to love others as we already love ourselves. Our lives are a constant battle against our flesh, which is still corrupt, even after we are saved. We must learn how to be loving to others as Christ was loving to us, and to consider how already we love ourselves, so we understand how to love others, and please our Heavenly Father in our words and deeds.

We must learn to love with faithfulness in Christ, meaning that, if we are capable of doing the right and loving thing for others, we make that selfless sacrifice, despite the personal cost. This takes study, discernment, practice, and patience, and it is our commanded duty as servants of Christ, so I hope you will take these lessons, consider them, and apply them to your own life.

Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?
-1 John 3:16-17

If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.
-1 John 4:20-21

If this teaching has helped you, share it with someone else, that it might help them as well, and I pray that the Lord Jesus Christ would richly bless each and every one of you who took the time to read this, that you would be well-rewarded in your efforts to love your neighbors, love the brethren, and love the Lord Jesus Christ.

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