By Kenneth Stepp
This title says so much more than we might think at first glance. If we love someone, we act on their best interest. So love is in fact, kind. In the dating arena that I see today, the word love is used in a fast and loose way that I do not recognize. Ladies, if your man hits you, verbally abuses you, or emotionally torments you, that isn’t love. I’m not sure what it is. But I am sure of what it isn’t. If I love you. You become more important to me that I am. Think of your child. Is there anything you wouldn’t give up to save them from harm? I’d lay my life down for any of mine. That is unconditional love. So is real love for a person that you do not share DNA with, it simply has different elements to it. Real love is always just love. Whether it is for your child or your forever love. Unconditional means just that. Flaws and all. All accepted…
“4. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8. Love never fails.”
– 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 New International Version (NIV)
That quote is about as accurate of a definition of real love that I can find. If I love you but do not make you happy, well, I would hope you would look closer because this kind of love is rare and almost never found at all. But if you searched beyond me, I would encourage your journey. Love really is enough if it’s real. I would be your most enthusiastic cheerleader and your biggest fan. The next time someone tells you they love you. Compare this definition to theirs. If theirs don’t line up. It isn’t love at all.
“Because, if you could love someone, and keep loving them, without being loved back . . . then that love had to be real. It hurt too much to be anything else.”
― Sarah Cross
Falling in love can be painful, if it’s real love, it will always be forever too. Love never fails. That doesn’t mean love is in a competition. It means real unconditional love never ends. There are many of us single warriors wandering around with a Cupid arrow or two in our back. They cannot be removed. They can only be lived with. Can we love again? Of course we can. Us humans can be very resilient when we are determined enough. From this point forward, when you are told you are loved. Use this time tested 2000 year old definition of what love is. Love has never changed, and it never will. We can like someone a lot. We can enjoy saying, I love you. Or we might want something from someone and use those words. But it doesn’t make them true. Love has power. Perhaps more than anything this side of Heaven.
“Sometimes, he thought, real love is silent as well as blind.”
― Stephen King
I have ended my writings many times with these words… Just be kind to one another. We are fellow travelers on the same journey. Use things, not people.
