2007-09-12 12:27:28 · 16 answers · asked by Linz ♥ VT 4 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Compassion is developed. If you choose to harbor bitterness or anger against others, then it poisons you not them. Your character suffers and you become someone who is untrustworthy. Bitterness causes you to fear and try to manipulate to gain the upper hand. It is better to forgive and live free.
2007-09-12 12:33:23 · answer #1 · answered by epaphras_faith 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I just send out love to all
if it is recieved then great.... if not , then thats ok
it just makes me feel good linz
not sure if that strengthens character
but I dont give love out for any character building benefits
I just love to love
dont get me wrong
there are a few people I have a hard time loving, but I am working on that also
that is the part that is perhaps character building for me
as I had a not so nice childhood due to alchohol in the family
so I do struggle to love drunk people
but I have just joined a drug and alchohol forum that works with users to try and help them ... and help me to see them as a person and not as a label
2007-09-12 19:42:20 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
That's a interesting question. Actually, two questions. For the first part, I don't think it's possible to love someone you don't know. You can feel empathy or respect for someone as a fellow human being, but that doesn't equate to love.
For the second part, I don't know if it strengthens your character to love someone who doesn't love you in return or if it just indicates a lack of self esteem and co-dependence. I tend to think the latter.
2007-09-13 13:22:59 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Well..
---
Last year, Stanford University psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky decided to put the kindness-fulfillment connection to the test. She asked students to carry out five weekly "random acts of kindness" of their choice, anything from buying a Big Mac for a homeless person to helping a younger sibling with schoolwork.
Her results indicate the Scrooge effect is no myth. The students reported higher levels of happiness than a control group, with students who performed all five kind acts in one day reaping the biggest rewards by the end of the six-week study period. Previous studies have found that altruistic people tend to be happy, but Lyubomirsky's was the first to establish that good deeds are actually the direct cause of an increase in well-being.
2007-09-12 19:34:11 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 6⤊ 0⤋
It's not necessary to truly love those you don't know.
The main definition of "love", after all, is a display of
affection--and you cannot have a sense of affection
for someone you don't know.
However, "love" is also simply having a sense of
caring for all mankind. And if I should see a home-
less man or woman walking down the street, I can
and will have a feeling of compassion towards them.
(I'll feel sad that they're in such a hopeless sort of
condition; and I'll often give them a few bucks just in
hopes that might cheer them up.)
I hope that answers your question.
2007-09-12 19:40:21 · answer #5 · answered by Pete K 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I don't think it strengthens your character, but I do believe it makes you an all around better human. It makes you put others before yourself and makes you polite. So I guess you changed my mind. It does strengthen your character.
2007-09-12 19:33:19 · answer #6 · answered by apple juice 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is easy to love those who love you.
But it is really tough to love those who hate you, those who like to see harm come to you. But those that are able to this are very special people.
There have been black women who have forgiven the racists who lynched their sons. People who can forgive that type of behavior, have character and strength beyond most humans.
2007-09-12 19:36:03 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Love is a counter balance for hate.
Tolerance is probably a key quality
in character building.
2007-09-12 19:34:59 · answer #8 · answered by kyle.keyes 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It doesn't start with loving strangers....it starts with loving God and receiving God's love, then that automatically enables you to love strangers. God's love is infectious....but not something contrived by man's own efforts.
As Paul wrote to the Ephesians..."16I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."
2007-09-12 19:33:11 · answer #9 · answered by whitehorse456 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
If you only care for those who love you back, then you are probably just being selfish; you love people only because you get something in return.
If you love everyone, even if you get nothing back, then you learn to give of yourself unselfishly.
2007-09-12 19:36:00 · answer #10 · answered by Randy G 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋