Today I woke up thinking about Love.

And most importantly how we judge it’s characteristics, and how it’s supposed to feel based off how we feel in the moment or our experience with it.

For example, if we have always had great relationships love is beautiful, fulfilling, and worth it. But if we haven’t, love becomes selfish, not worth the fight, or I’ve heard people say “love just comes to break you down”.

However when I stopped and thought about how my own views of love changed based on my experiences. I realized that wasn’t fair to the essence of what love truly is. And it wasn’t fair to my growth. It was selfish to change the definition of love based on my experiences and not what it truly represents.

And to get this true representation of love I decided to use the verse listed below to focus on how I truly love.

1 Corinthians 13: 4-8 

After reading this, I realized that I didn’t and don’t love quite like I should. My love has always come with expectations and lack of patience at times, all created by fear of not being “loved” in the same way.

This scripture opened my eyes to the realization that Love requires more of me than what I had been giving. It’s not just 1 action word its multiple actions all combined to pretty much make each individual learn how to be self-sacrificing for the good of another. It’s sacrificial, yet requires you to do so in a way that you don’t expect anything in return. It’s a challenge but it’s so worth it.

Jesus loved us and in doing so he came down to teach US and to die for US. In all the ways he showed love he was acting off of his love for US not off of our love for him. At that time we didn’t love him, we didn’t even know him! And when we stop to think about love in that way, it should make us question how we judge what we call love in our own lives.

 

So this week, I want to learn how to love. When I say “I love you”, I want to understand and acknowledge the sacrifice in doing so. This week I want to thank those who I love for allowing me to love them as I do. It’s my gift to them, not their gift to me. I am blessed to have an overflowing well of love that I was called to so graciously share with others.