Feelings...

[Guest Teditis]

God feels Love for us... what's more, He acts on those feelings.

[Guest Teditis]

Actions are predicated on feelings, emotions and state of mind or heart.

[enoob57]

Love 'IS' best seen in the humanity of Jesus in the prayer to His Father prior to the cross... where all of His desire in the humanity was for another way >yet< the love according to 
1 Corinthians 13:7 (KJV)
[7] Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
leaves all human concept behind and sets itself in the eternal foundations of the God Head ... this of course is unto The Father to whom all things return and the unity therein. Generated human concepts of begin are not utilized in the fulness of love found in Christ... Love, Steven 

[Churchmouse]

God gives us his love, but he has also given us the trait of love in which we are give others.

[Willa]

I believe love is a decision to commit that results in an action of unselfishness or giving, and that in turn may result in an emotion.  It has to do with agape love.

Joh 15:4  Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.Joh 15:5  I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

17 hours ago, Out of the Shadows said:

I Cor 13 tells us that love is something that we have.  We do not have action, we do actions. We do not have decisions, we make decisions.  Feelings/emotions are the thing that we have.
 

agápē; gen. agápēs, fem. noun from agapáō (G25), to love. Love, affectionate regard, goodwill, benevolence. With reference to God's love, it is God's willful direction toward man. It involves God doing what He knows is best for man and not necessarily what man desires. For example, Joh 3:16states, "For God so loved [ēgápēsen] the world, that he gave." What did He give? Not what man wanted, but what God knew man needed, i.e., His Son to bring forgiveness to man.  Word Study Dictionary

1 Corinthians 13 speaks of God's agape love.  It is something God wills and choses to do.  It goes on to describe the behavior or action of agape love.

1Co 13:4  Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant  1Co 13:5  or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;  1Co 13:6  it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.  1Co 13:7  Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  Love never ends.

Human love is something we feel and have.   It can be an emotion of affection and loyalty toward family.  Phileo is brotherly love.  Storge is affection for family.  Eros is erotic love or attraction.  We may have these. But AGAPE love is SOMEONE we have.  God is AGAPE love.  We must choose to see others as God sees them because it is not our own nature to do this, especially when the people are repulsive, arrogant, rude, irritable, resentful, unforgiving, cruel, hateful and all those things that God's love is not.  We all have bad days when we are totally in the fleshly nature, we are hurt, grieving, and very hard for others to deal with.  God's love keeps on loving and doing what is best for that person.  Human love tends to fall apart when rejected and railed upon.  Brotherly love or friendship backs off and gives them lots of space. Ludus infatuation and Eros attraction reject at that point.  Phileo and Storge, the family types of loyalty and affection, may not like you but don't outright reject you.  

So again, Agape love of 1 Cor. 13 is not something we have.  It is Someone we have.  And we must choose to allow Him to live in us by His Spirit.  It becomes more natural to do so as we mature as Christians, but there are still times when our own endurance fails and we must consciously choose to allow Christ to do His work through us.  When you rely on human emotions, they will fail you when times are tough.

Did I differentiate enough for you all? 

[GoldenEagle]

1 hour ago, Davida said:

Thoughts precede both emotions and actions.  

This depends on how a person is wired.

Some people are feelers (primarily or first influenced by feelings or emotion) while others are thinkers (primarily or first influenced by logic or reason). A person who is wise will consider both their thoughts and feelings on any given subject.

Otherwise we tend to over-regulate (isolate/avoid leading to depression or overprotection) or under-regulate (Control/enable leading to regret and being taken advantage of/hurt). Over-regulation tends to allow only negative feelings while under-regulation tends to lead towards only allowing positive feelings. Our current state is seen as our destiny instead of a season of life. Both of those lead to exhaustion.

A wise person relates to others in a healthy way leading to progress and protection within reason. Others are seen as assistants and we are seen as owners of our own thoughts, feelings, words, and actions. We realize that our current state is not our destiny but simply a season of life. We avoid shame & pride instead focusing on disappointment and joy. This leads to connectedness.

This might even be a spinoff topic...

Edit see topic here: Do you tend to Over-regulate or Under-regulate when not walking in the Spirit? (Wise Mind)

God bless,
GE

[Guest shiloh357]

9 hours ago, Out of the Shadows said:

But it is good grammar.  Since you do not have an answer, can anyone else who says love is nothing but an action explain how you can "have" an action?

 

You have not really fleshed out "having love"  is emotional.    You have not really demonstrated from I Cor. 13 how having love is different than living it out per I Cor. 13.   I would love to see you exegete that chapter and demonstrate how your claim is supported by that chapter.

[Guest shiloh357]

3 hours ago, Teditis said:

Actions are predicated on feelings, emotions and state of mind or heart.

Actions can be the result of feelings, but feelings do not necessarily prompt action.  People do things all of the time, as an act of their will in spite of how they feel, or their state of mind. 

[Running Gator]

4 minutes ago, shiloh357 said:

You have not really fleshed out "having love"  is emotional.    You have not really demonstrated from I Cor. 13 how having love is different than living it out per I Cor. 13.   I would love to see you exegete that chapter and demonstrate how your claim is supported by that chapter.

It is simple grammar, to "have" something is to possess it.   An action cannot be possessed, it is performed.  In order to have love, it has to be something that can be possessed.  A feeling/emotion is something we possess.    Basic understanding of grammar, that is all that is required. 

[Guest shiloh357]

5 hours ago, Out of the Shadows said:

We have been told that love is an action, nothing more.  how can we have an action?  How can you have a "way of being"?

Love is the product of the working of the Holy Spirit.   It is the fruit of the Spirit.  That means that love isn't a feeling we have.  It is a fruit we bear. It does not have its source in our emotions/feelings.   It effects our emotions, but it is something we bear and the ONLY way it is borne, is in our actions.   Fruit bearing can only be seen in the life and actions of a believer.  It doesn't reside in our emotions.   We don't have love.  It's not ours, it does not come from us. 

What our society often calls "love" falls under:

• Infatuation
• Lust
• Affection

And all of those fall under one of three Greek words for "love,"  Eros.   Eros is the emotional thing we often refer to as "love."  It is not true love.   True love is Agape.  That's real love, God's love.  And it is never an emotion; it exists and operates outside of human emotion.