A practical love book1 (PDF)

LEARN HOW TO
LOVE AN D BE
LOVED’

“And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt
love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none
other commandment greater than these”
Mark 12:31

PASTOR PROMISE IKPE

Copyright (R)

Pst Promise Ikpe
April, 2018
tmmintl@gmail.com
www.tmmintl.blogspot.com

No part of this book may be produced or transmitted in any
form or by any means, electronic or mechanic, including
photocopying, recording or by any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the
publisher.
ISBN: 978-978-257-94-7-2
Printed in Nigeria by
TMM Digital Press
2018

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Dedication
To God who loved me when I was still a sinner. And to Cecilia
Ikpe (my mum), Benjamin Ikpe (My Dad), and my siblings
(Chinomso Ukachi, Maureen Ikpe, and Goodness Ikpe), who
love me and were used by God to teach me how to love.

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Appreciation
My Hebrew tutor, Olya Maccabey explained to me that in
Hebrew the opposite of love is not hate, but pride, that single
revelation was what I need to begin writing this book. I am very
grateful.
I'm grateful to the following that assisted me in putting this
together: Anita Jacob, David Akatu and BenzikMultimedia.
My parents, Mr and Mrs B. U. Ikpe for their great contributions in
my life in loving me unconditionally. My siblings; Chinomso
Ukachi, Maureen Ikpe and Goodness Ikpe.
My godfather, Bishop Promise Emeribe and his wife Rev. Mrs.
Ijeoma Emeribe.
I want to thank Pastor Godknows Kaingo and his wife, and
Deaconess Menescencia Abiliyo who are great servants, holding
the fort in the church, in my absence.
I want to thank all those who have prayed for me, and supported
me in putting this book together, may God bless you. Thank you
very much.

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Introduction

T

he greatest commandment is to love our neighbors, and
how do we do that? Many people profess love, but, they
don't know how to express it. Marriages are crashing
today, not because of the lack of love between the spouses, but
because they don't know how to love one another. Siblings are at
war with each other, not because they do not love one another,
but, because they do not know how to convey love. There is so
much hatred in the society today, not because those in the society
don't love, but, because they do not know how to express love.
“That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their
husbands, to love their children”Titus 2:4
Our text states plainly that we must learn how to love. The culture
has been the primary means through which individuals learn to
love, the movie industry too. However, these means are flawed,
because they do not teach us how to love divinely.
This book is aimed at teaching the practical steps that can be
taken to be able to love effectively, and be loved in return. Most
people who don't know how to love are often victims of hate. The
bible commands us to love, because we have the capacity to love
efficiently. The bible further shows us how we can love, when to
love, and how we can be loved as well.
If you love someone, it is important that you learn from God's
word the various steps you can take to express love. Also, if you
desire any degree of love from the world around you, it is also
important that you study God's word to learn how to harvest love
from the world around you.

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Our society is flawed in teaching us how to love; our various
cultures too have not been able to help us understand how to
convey love to one another. Our only hope of learning to love, and
be loved is through God's word. The bible is the manual on how to
love, and if we should follow its directions and instructions, we
will be able to manifest love and experience it.

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GENERATE THE LOVE YOU CRAVE
“A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and
there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.”
Proverbs 18:24

T

here is no love in the world except the love we've
generated for ourselves. People hardly ever just smile at
you, or just greet you, or treat you with care and kindness
unless you have first loved, first cared or you have first treated
them with kindness.
A man committed suicide after walking the length of London
Bridge, from one end to the other end. A note was found on him
and in it was written, “if any man smiles at me while I take the
long walk across the bridge, I won't kill myself”
This man died because he wanted the love he had not generated
for himself. I know for sure, if he had smiled at one of the passersby as he walked across the bridge, he would have gotten the
smiles he craved for and spared himself death.
Like him, many people want to be loved, and treated with care,
yet they are so bitter and frustrated because they are not receiving
the love and tender affection they crave.
Proverbs 18:24 says that to win friendship, we must first be
friendly. We must consistently be nice to be treated nicely, and we
must consistently love to be loved.
If you are surrounded with people who hate you, it is only so
because you have not generated love. You must generate the love
that you need to enjoy the life that God has blessed you with. You
must generate the love that you need to be able to concentrate on
your studies and excel in learning. You must generate the love
you need to make it easier for you to relate with others. You must
generate the love that you need to be able to enjoy your marital
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life. You must generate the love that you need to be able to train
and discipline your children, students and followers. You must
generate the love that you need to fulfill God's purpose for your
life.
Love is the driver of life, where there is no love, life stops
progressing. Don't seat back and expect love to come to you, you
are the architect of the level of love that you'll ever enjoy in life,
therefore, don't seat behind and wait for it, because love will
never come to you, go out there and generate it.
A lot of people seat behind and murmur about how they are hated;
many settle behind and complain about how they are ill-treated,
and disregarded. The truth is, if you seat behind and complain,
nothing will ever change, instead, things will get worse. Even
good men will keep treating you badly because you have not
generated the love you want them to share with you.
Someone said to me, “I've tried to love my neighbors, but they
take advantage of it each time, making me look like a fool”.
The farmer doesn't stop planting because one or more of his seeds
didn't yield; he keeps planting and does not hold back himself
from sowing until he gets the harvest he craves.
Jesus once shared the parable of the sower who kept spreading his
seeds; though some were being eaten up by birds, some fell on
infertile soil and grew but never produced, some fell on rocks and
died after being scorched by the rays of the sun and some didn't
yield much though they were on good soil. Faced with all of
these, the sower never stops sowing until he gets a 100% and yes,
Jesus said, the sower got it. Like that sower, we keep spreading
the love we crave; it might make us vulnerable to certain
individuals to manipulate us, it might make appear foolish, some
might use our love as tools to defraud us, the list goes on and on,
however, we do not give up until we get what we want.
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