what is love anyway? the phrase "i love you" gets thrown around daily. what does it even mean? according to webster's dictionary, love is both a noun and a verb. in verb form, it means "to hold dear." if that was love perhaps the word wouldn't be overused. but i must disagree with sir webster and say that love is so much more than "holding someone dear." in order to explore what love truly means, let's go to 1 corinthians.
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. [niv]
love never gives up. love cares more for others than for self. love doesn't want what it doesn't have. love doesn't strut, doesn't have a swelled head, doesn't force itself on others, isn't always "me first," doesn't fly off the handle, doesn't keep score of the sins of others, doesn't revel when others grovel, takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, puts up with anything, trusts God always, always looks for the best, never looks back but keeps going to the end. love never dies. [the message]
i feel like these are much more accurate pictures of what love really is. my 2 favorite parts of this are:
1. it is not self seeking.
love is not self seeking. love isn't focused on MY wants or even MY needs. this means that if the person you really love leaves you for someone else, you will accept that. if that person is happy with someone else, you will accept that. this is when you realize whether you really love the person or not. are you willing to see them with someone else if it's what's best for them?
2. love never fails.
love never fails. sorry guys but this whole "i love you" thing that gets thrown around all the time almost always fades away. 2 weeks later when you break up or have a fight, will you still be saying you love that person? love isn't something that can be shut off like a light switch after a friendship or relationship comes to an end. love is something that never dies.
SOOO...those are my thoughts of the night. thoughts? questions? comments?
I love this post! And I agree with you-- love is way overused. Especially by 13 year olds in highschool relationships :)
ReplyDeleteI'm taking this definition of love literally today (I should do that everyday, but I'm focusing on one day at a time here). That means when my younger sister is asking me millions and millions of questions, I will patiently listen. And when someone asks me a favor, I'll have "love is not self seeking" ringing in my ears. Jesus said to love your neighbor, that the greatest thing is love. If we took the definition of love and put it in place of the word (like "be patient with your neighbor" or "put your neighbor's needs first" or "the greatest thing is to always trust in the Lord") I think it'd be incredible! Just some thoughts :)
i completely and totally agree! haha (:
ReplyDeletemmm yeah. that's such a good idea! i haven't thought about it that way before, honestly. today i will make every effort to love...the real kind of love. (:
this is so great. awesome job!!
ReplyDeletethanks kels (: i love you!
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