Does God only select a few to love?

Question: Hello friend! I found something that has been troubling me greatly. Some things have shown me that God does not love everyone and His love is conditional. Growing up in a southern “Bible-belt” church, I grew up learning that God loves everyone unconditionally. But due to recent discovery, apparently, God has only selected a few…

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Our Love for God

https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/OurLoveForGod.mp3 by Andrew Long

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I just can’t seem to love anyone

Question: I’m writing because I feel completely ruined and came across your web site. I am over 45. I am unable to hold a job of any kind really; although, I should be able to because there is nothing physically wrong with me, and I have multiple college degrees. After a catastrophic event in my…

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Forbearing One Another in Love

https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/2014Spring3ForbearingOneAnotherInLove.mp3 by Brian Faulkner On Being a Christian

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What advice would you give to someone who can’t seem to love herself?

Question: What does it mean when the relationships you have with others always failed? What advice would you give to someone who can’t seem to love herself? Answer: I hate to sound trite, but consistent failure means you are going about it the wrong way. Often we convince ourselves that if we do the same…

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How can God condemn love between two people?

Question: I might have just not read Don’t you dare change my mind, but why is homosexuality bad? carefully enough, but it seemed like the only reason why homosexual sex was a sin was that it was for pure pleasure only and without the intention of reproduction. Wouldn’t that mean if a heterosexual couple had protected…

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God Is Love

https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/GodIsLove.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: I John 4:7-21   I.         What is love? How would you define it? How would you know if you have it?             A.        It is a common question that teens have. How while I know I’m in love?             B.        The Bible gives two definitions:                         1.         Song of Solomon 8:6-8 describes the passion of love…

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Handsome Is as Handsome Does

by Aubrey Belue Which “Handsome is as handsome does” means: “back up your words with your actions.” “But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard. He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and…

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Ruling with Love

by Irven Lee via Truth Magazine, January 1, 1981 An elder is to be “one that ruleth well his own family, having his children in subjection with all gravity; for if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?” (I Timothy 3:4-5). The elder…

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Gentle Cords and Bands of Love

Gentle Cords and Bands of Love – Part 1Gentle Cords and Bands of Love – Part 2 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Hosea 11   I.         Most people’s view of love is very limited.             A.        “God is Love” they declare; therefore, any sin that I may be involved in doesn’t matter because “God is Love.”                         1.         There can’t…

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God and the Concept of Patterns

by Doy Moyer The nature of typology shows that God is a God of patterns. Without even going through a process of trying to “establish” authority, God shows through His overall record that He is a God of patterns. This is evident right from the beginning when God made a pattern for creation that He…

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Parenting Toddlers: Love and Security

https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/ParentingToddlersLoveAndSecurity.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Proverbs 3:13-26   I.         Toddlers             A.        A wonderful age.                         1.         Everything is a new and fresh delight                         2.         Curious about everything                                     a.         Often into things forbidden, not because of maliciousness                                     b.         But curiosity with what is behind this, with what happens with that?             B.        Beginnings of communications                         1.         Relief! You now have clues as to the child’s…

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How do you stop loving a boyfriend or girlfriend?

Question: How can a person stop loving their girlfriend or boyfriend? I know the feelings are still there deep down, but how do they force themselves to not love you anymore? Answer: I don’t understand the question. Given that Jesus said we are to love our neighbor (Matthew 12:31) and love our enemies (Matthew 5:44),…

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How do you love a neighbor who doesn’t want you in their life?

Question: I’ve lost my way. How do I get my life right with God again? I was raised up to believe in God and I still do. Right now I believe that I have lost my spiritual compass along with my relationship with God. One thing I will never forget from God’s word is “to…

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Love is Different

by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Paul’s description of love in I Corinthians 13:4-8 is both well-known and unheeded. Despite knowing what love is and is not, people still expect more of love. They want the fluttery feeling of butterflies in the stomach and the emotional high. To many, love isn’t real without the emotions. But are…

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Can you marry for reasons other than love?

Question: Is it biblical to marry for reasons outside of love? For example for children, physical desire, status, family pressure, obligation, it is time, etc? Answer: So many people think that love is something that happens to a person when the truth is that love is something a person chooses to give. That is why…

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I somehow lost my love

Question: I go to a church of Christ. Lately, something has been telling me I need to get myself right and that I need to get baptized again for the right reason, but over the years I lost how to love and believe and how to let him in my heart. My conscience keeps telling…

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Beliefs Not Found in the Bible

Author Unknown via The Jackson Drive Reporter, Oct. 4, 2009 Men say: “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me.” The Bible says: “And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire…

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How can I be sure that my wife loves only me?

Question: I’m married. My wife was the only girl in my life. However, she did love someone before she met me but it did not materialize as her parents were against the marriage. She broke away from the boy and almost gave up on life, deciding never to marry. I then walked into her life…

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How do I get over loving a boy who doesn’t love me?

Question: I met this boy at work. Initially, it was OK, but after some time, because of his good nature and politeness, I became attracted to him. I then found out that he had a girlfriend in the past and he loved her very much, but somehow their love did not end up in marriage…

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If you are to love your enemies, why did David kill Goliath?

Question: I was listening to a sermon about how to be a man after God’s heart. He was speaking about love, and he said David loved Saul even when Saul tried to kill him and searched for him for years. Even if Saul became David’s enemy, David would never do the same against Saul. He loved Saul and he’d never become his enemy. Then…

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Is this girl the answer to my prayers?

Question: I met the girl online, and we have been talking online for several months now, We haven’t actually met in person but we plan on meeting up next week. We are both Christian, and we have had a few differences of opinion, and arguments. I literally fell in love with this girl before I’ve…

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Am I being unloving toward a sister in Christ?

Question: Today I had some trouble with a friend, who is also a sister in Christ. She was unbearable, but still, I didn’t argue or anything with her. I just don’t feel like being near her because it stresses me. Am I being unloving to her? Answer: So what do you do when your brother…

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Does love mean you miss people when they are not there?

Question: When you love someone, does it imply you need to miss this person in case you’re too far away? If not, how is this love? I remember that Paul was always saying in his letters that he missed the people from the churches he wrote to. What do you think? Answer: “For God is my…

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Does a husband need to love his wife more than anyone on earth?

Question: Does a husband need to love his wife more than anyone on earth? Even his children? Answer: The question implies there is a set quantity of love that a person can give. It also assumes that love for, say children, is at odds with loving your wife. The greatest commandment is loving God, the…

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How can I love God when I fear hell?

Question: How does someone learn to love God? I know what the greatest commandment is, but I don’t think I love God. I fear going to hell. If I didn’t believe in hell, I don’t think I would have become a Christian. Could I have truly repented? Was my sorrow only of the world? I…

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What Saves a Person?

by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Since, “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (II Peter 3:9), it would be sensible to understand that in order to get people saved, God would tell them…

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What is God doing for me now to prove His love?

Question: God taught us to love and loving is a daily process requiring lots of physical and conscious effort. To show I love my wife, I have to remind her, I have to shower her with gifts, I have to kiss, hold, caress her, and sacrifice to her daily. Sometimes I have to do the…

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Is it wrong to love a non-Christian?

Question: I am 20 years old, and I have a boyfriend. We both really love each other. Although he is not a Christian, I can’t leave him. Is it wrong to love a non-Christian? We both sometimes end up having dry sex. He says it’s not a sin because we truly love each other. I…

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First Love

by Robert Turner A tap at the study door announced a timid and frightened young couple. Their marriage was “coming apart” — or so they thought — and since I had “performed their ceremony,” they had come to me for help. The timid approach fooled me. What should have been an easy “patch-up” job grew…

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Is love enough for marriage?

Question: Is the love between a man and a woman, apart from the mutual agreement of both families enough to bind them? I’m asking this question on behalf of my cousin who wants to go on and marry a Muslim girl irrespective of the lack of agreement between the two families of different religions. They…

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How do I get a love for God?

Question: Hi! How do I get a love for God? The Bible says I need to love Him with all my heart and soul, but I only feel fear of the eternal consequences that come if I’m not obedient. I know the Bible says God is love, but I’m having a hard time with that…

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