Love

"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 in the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away." 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Love is such a huge topic, but I have wanted to do a post on it for a couple of days now. It seems like love has been in the air lately. My friends Brad and Rachel just got engaged on Monday, and it is so wonderful to see their love for each other. Have you ever seen a couple who you can just tell that they are going to make it? They are one of those. When they are together, you see how happy they are and it makes you happy. :) They have such a good relationship with each other, but it is clear that they both love God with all their hearts. That is really the key to their relationship.

Another example of love is brought up by Tia from one of my favorite blogs. She talks about how in a good relationship, it is the little things that mean so much. I have to agree that heartfelt gestures that are really nothing are really everything. Tia is married to a man who knows this, and as she says, "Little things. Big difference." Speaking of the little things, Mark got me roses for no reason at all this week. They are beautiful and remind me how lucky I am to have someone that loves me so much.

Love is something that is so hard to define. Even in 1 Corinthians, Paul doesn't tell us what love is, but tells us what it does. I think that by taking a closer look at what love does, we can discover what it is. Love is patient and kind...being patient has never been one of my strong suits, especially when it comes to other people. I tend to think that my way is the best way, and have little patience for people who don't want to do things the best way. Clearly this is a problem that can only be solved by love. I don't struggle too much with kindness. I try to be kind as often as possible, but sometimes I'm not. Usually, these times are surrounded with sarcasm and blatant, tactless honesty. I love being truthful, but my delivery needs work sometimes. And as for sarcasm, it is part of my sense of humor. I try hard not to use it in a mean way. All in all though, I usually have good intentions, and it really pains me when I do something to disguise that fact.

Love isn't envious, boastful or prideful. Come on, we are all a little of these things every now and then. I'm pretty sure that everyone has been envious of someone, and I know that boasts and pride are a part of life that we all deal with. No exceptions here.

It is not rude, self-seeking or easily angered. This area is one that I struggle with as well. Sometimes I get pretty angry with Mark, and this verse really helps me to put things into perspective. I love him, I think to myself, so I should not be so easily angered by him. When I think about this, I usually calm down fairly quickly. The part where love keeps no record of wrongs is not helpful in an argument. Basically, it gives you no past you can use in a battle when all you need are a few good examples to prove your point. Sometimes I bring things up just for this purpose, but I try had to keep from doing this. After all, it isn't loving.

Love rejoices in the truth. A pretty clear statement, I think. If you suspect that there is something wrong between you and your loved one, ask. Mark is really great about this. If he thinks there is something wrong between us, he finds out what it is. Sure this makes me being angry about little useless things and keeping to myself so that he won't think I'm crazy pretty difficult, but several issues have been resolved thanks to his application of this verse.

Love protects, hopes, trusts and perseveres. This part of the verse is so important. In a relationship, all these things are key. You need to be there to protect one another, you can't let go of hope and trust, or your relationship will be full of secrets. And perseverance is so important. When things are tough, don't just give up. Keep fighting through.

The last part of this section basically says that love, to quote Brad Paisley, "is never-ending." Even though all of man's achievements will fade away, love is perfect and will never do so. Why is this? Because God so loved the world. God is the driving force behind true love. Without him, there would be no love. Sure, there would be plenty of lust, plenty of relationships where people thought they were in love, but there would be no perfect love.

So what is love? Well, my best guess is that love is doing what you don't always feel like doing because it is the right thing to do. Love is putting yourself second so that you can put someone else first. Love is, as the saying goes, a commitment, not a feeling. We love others because they are important to us. We value them and treasure them above everything else that we have. In this same way God loves us. How cool is that?