Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it’s not proud. It thinks of no evil.
1 Corinthians 13
Love is everywhere. It’s unfortunate that not everyone fully understands what love is. For a high percentage of people, love is just about emotions. When they hear the word ‘love’, they immediately think ‘romance’.
Love is sacrificial. Yes, not the T-junction narration. At all times and seasons, love needs to be pumped.
Love is pain. Read that again. I understand your brain stopped for a split second if that ever happens. It’s only wise to comprehend that all ups sometimes have downs.
I remember an incident that happened a little while ago to me. I was hurt, pained, betrayed, name it. I wished that the people who hurt me would feel the same dose I felt. I conjured all sorts of bad stuff that I wanted to befall them up in my head. After all, I loved them, didn’t I?
It felt as though the next church service I attended was for me. The word came blaring through my mind.
Love keeps no wrongs, it does not rejoice in iniquity. I was stunned. I guess I didn’t love them enough.
What is Love?
Love is a verb. It’s not an instinct or an inborn ability. Expressing love is both physical and emotional kinds of love. Love is a language.
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We have different kinds of love.
As a teen, the surging waves around you can be tempting. The kind of love chasing after you seems to be Eros. It leaves you with lingering butterflies in your tummy, the mushy feelings, the blush, clumsiness, and all that comes with it.
But alas, it’s temporal.
I can’t even count the number of ‘I love you’, and many more I’ve heard in time past.
Relax, no pressure, no rush. Let Eros remain locked till it’s the perfect time.
Clinch to the kind of love that rebukes, it wants the best for you.
‘I love you’ is just a sentence till it’s awoken in action.
Characteristics of Love
- Love has length, depth, height, and breadth.
Love is eternal, it has no ends or limits.
Love has passion, commitment, sacrifice, and pleasure.
Love grows like a budding tree.
Love is harmless.
Love is not measured with physical attributes.
I could go on and on, but in all, know that love is true and pure.
Love is dynamic and requires action to thrive.
How to Love and Be Loved
1. Love without conditions
Be willing to love people without holding back. Do not only show love because there are attached benefits in place.
2. Don’t be driven by emotions
Love because it’s right. Don’t give love a clear definition only when the emotions are right with you.
That person you claim to love this minute, do you hate him/her the next minute? Your parents chastise you for a wrong act, do you close up the tank of love?
The guy who sweeps you off your feet, is it still love when he’s in his bad shape?
Love is not just about emotions.
3. Love is not just about physical attraction
The world we live in today is widely driven by physical attributes.
‘I just love her, she’s beautiful, her eyes shine as bright as the morning sun’, Jason reeled out to me gleefully. He was talking about Madeline, his girlfriend.
Two months after, Madeline lost her eyes in a car accident. Jason broke the relationship.
Where did the love go?
Would you still love if all those physical attributes that hooked you were found wanting?
4. Extend love to all ends
How far do you extend love?
Is it just to close ones? How about the homeless stranger by the sidewalk?
The particular person who hurt you so deeply?
The people who are undeserving of your love.
5. Let your love be known
Let them know you love them, be clear about it, set an awareness.
6. Be deserving of love
Put yourself in a clear light, are you lovable? Is your heart receptive enough?
7. Persistence and determination
Love never fails! If it fails, just know it wasn’t love.
Make the person you love one of your priorities. Love is the strength in the face of weakness, it’s the language of the heart.
The best kind of love is true and pure.
What’s your definition of love?
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