What is Love?

There were many, many years I thought I knew what love was.  I was wrong.  I listened to what the world said love was, not what scripture said.  I was filled with all these expectations and ideas...believing magazines and movies...and I had all those expectations and ideas shattered.  In fact, after my first major relationship ended, I really didn't know what the heck love was...not what it looked like, felt like...nothing.  It had been so twisted in my mind that I wasn't sure which direction was up or which was down.  It has taken Jesus awhile to show me...not that I am an expert, because TRUST ME - I AM NOT.  I have much to learn...I think it is a life long process of learning what love is. 

Love is something so wonderful, but hurts so gosh darn much at the same time.  Love is that, "Wow, I had no idea this was going to be so difficult" feeling, mixed with, "We can take on the world!"  It's that "I miss him so much it hurts" feeling...which never really goes away.  I know that love is definitely much much more than a feeling.  It's mostly a choice.  After all, the person we love will often fail us, and we will fail them.  It's part of human nature.  But we choose to love someone.  Each and every day.  Be that a spouse, a family member, a friend...it's a choice.  Plus, it's also major sacrifice...it will definitely cost us something.  Time, money, ourselves...it will cost a lot.  It is also about serving.  Thinking about the other person, trying to serve them in whatever way is possible. 

I know I have openly professed my disdain for Valentine's Day before, but I think the part of Valentine's Day I dislike is what it has been made into.  I feel there are too many expectations, too much pressure put on people on this day.  A lot of it comes from the female side, too.  The flowers, the dinner out, the jewlery...all of these expectations put on men is just unecessary.  I know, I'm getting on a soap box here and probably coming across very opinionated, but I feel that love should be cherished, appreciated and celebrated each day, not just on Valentine's day.  I don't dislike the day or holiday itself, or what it represents.  I think love is a wonderful thing.  I like wearing pink or red, cheerily saying, "Happy Valentine's Day!" to people I see and eating a little dark chocolate.  It's the over-the-topness of it all that gets to me.

Scripture tells us:

"Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails..." ~1 Corinthians 13: 4-8.

This is really what love is. This scripture is talking about more than just romantic love, the mushy-gushy feelings that you have when you first begin to fall in love with someone. It's a deeper kind of love...the kind that withstands anything - good and bad. This is the same kind of love found in Jesus. He demonstrated the ultimate love when He died for our sins on the cross.  He is the ultimate Valentine. 
So I hope that more than anything, on this Valentine's Day, you can get to know the ultimate love and Valentine...Jesus.  Because without Him, love would be meaningless.

"We love, because He first loved us." ~1 John 4:19

In Christ,

Meg