What_Is_Love_

As Valentine’s Day approaches, I began thinking about love and my question is what is love' The definition of love is different to most people. Some may say, “love is blind,” others may say, “love hurts.” The dictionary defines love a certain type of affection. According to Cambridge’s dictionary, love is the feeling of liking another adult very much and being romantically and sexually attracted to them, or strong feelings of liking a friend or person in your family. Paul wrote in 1st Corinthians that, “love is patient, love is kind, love never fails. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking. It is not easily angered and it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts; always hopes, always perseveres. These words were written thousands of years ago in the Bible and they still apply in regards to our society today. We have heard songs about it, seen it in the movies and read about it in thousands of self help books. We all want to feel loved. We think about it, hope for it, fantasize about it, go to great lengths to achieve it, and feel that our lives are incomplete without it. So many legends surround this emotion, from the mythic heroine Penelope and husband Odysseus to Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. What then, is love' Love takes many forms, from the physical to the emotional aspect. Love can involve a blissful connection between two people or tear them apart. Love can also make us do irrational things. What’s more, we demand a whole lot of things which must come in that package of love, such as commitment, truth, honesty, sincerity, dedication and other ideals. We wish to live a life to love, to love whole-heartedly, but there is a gripping fear and uncertainty that plagues our decision to plunge in. We deny how tired we are of the constant let-downs. We deny that we are scared to hurt. We deny how badly we want to succeed. And most of all, we deny that we are in denial because deep inside all we want is to fall in love and be loved back. As mentioned before, many people say the phrase, “love is blind.” This must mean that it is a belief of many. If love is blind, one may argue that love is eternal, regardless of one’s faults, their lies, and their affairs; that regardless of any negative outcome that love overlooks it. If love is blind it prevails all evil. This definition of love makes us think of it as being unconditional love which is a concept comparable to true love. Another common phrase is that, “love hurts.” I wonder why is it that love has acquired this unpleasant metaphor maybe self-experience could be an answer to this question. Most people, at some time in their lives, have been hurt by someone that they love. Is this because they have done something wrong or is it simply human instinct' Humans are full of error and often decide it is easier to give up on love than struggle through the hard times. Therefore, does love hurt or do people hurt' Many would say it is people who hurt because they fail to pursue this love that they have claimed. On the other hand, many people turn to the dictionary when they are in need of a definition for a particular word. The Webster’s Dictionary defines love as, “an affection based on admiration, benevolence, or common interest.” Most would agree that love definitely consists of all of these qualities. When one is looking for a mate, they try to find someone who is, to some extent, like them. It is desired that this person is someone that can be looked up to, and someone who is kind and compassionate. But there is a love much deeper than this. What’s more, novels, legends, poems and quotations of famous people worldwide can only briefly touch on the true meaning of love. Because of the complexity and differences of love's social, cultural, and religious definitions and roles, it is challenging to delineate love to suit a universally accepted definition. The Bible says, “love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails” (1 Corinthians 13:4). Many would argue that love is each and every one of these virtues. However, can a human be so perfect as to possess all of these traits' Rarely is someone so perfect, if ever. This is a love referred to a Godly love. This love is present everyday and is given to all of those who believe in Jesus. This definition of love refers to the way God loves us. It is an example of how we are to mold ourselves and learn to return that love on such an elevated level. Paul also stated, “if I have faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.” In conclusion, regardless of all of these definitions, and more important than anything, love is the most powerful feeling that we could share and give. It is difficult for our minds to understand what God thinks and defines as love but we should embrace the meaning of love stated in the Bible, believe in it and live in it. We are encouraged to love everyone and have good thoughts about others because what we sow we rip. This means that if we sow love we will rip love!