What is Love? {My Late Valentine's Day Post}

So, can I just say that I hate Valentines Day? I hate how commercial society makes love. I hate how everyone buys into it. I hate that the world thinks everyone is in love. (Because they aren't ya know)
Well, this Valentines Day, I spent sick in bed and it's given me a lot of time to think. Surrounded by pillows and blankets I wrote, wrote about love....

What is Love?
Love is the most overused word ever. Seriously.
Love is not just a feeling but a choice. Love is not roses and candlelight, or moonlight walks. Love is so much more. And yet people throw it away casually for the thrill of the moment all the time. They are so caught up in the moment, they call it love. And it just isn't.

So, if it isn't all this, what is love?
Well, love is sacrifice, a laying down of a life for another. A vision that penatrates far deeper than what eyes can see and has a purpose of eternal destiny. Love, the right kind of love, is wanting the best for a person, so much that your own desires come second, and you are consumed with the wanting of their dreams to come true. You want desperately to see them succeed in whatever they do. It's really a miracle. On human terms this love revolutionizes marriage. Marriage is holy and sacred. And it is reduced by society in terms that it is now insignificant. But nothing could be farther from the truth! While I was lying in bed I wrote to my future husband (because I'm cool like that!) "Marriage is struggling through life together, remaining faithful to each other, and God, and watching Him work miracles for bigger and more glorious than either of us could ever imagine."

But as wonderful as all this is, Love doesn't end there. It goes beyond mere human love, and reaches an indescribable depth. We can love because we are loved by a God whose name is Love. Listen to this.

"If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
 We love because he first loved us. Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister. "  ~1John 4:15-21

We are loved beyond what we can comprehend. Perfect love casts out fear. And we have Love on our side. Jesus Christ is our first love. This is the single best truth ever! We have a beautiful love story patterned in each of our hearts, but how many of us have ignored the sweet wooing of our Heavenly Prince? Imagine with me a young couple just returning from their honeymoon. The man starts hanging pictures on the wall of other women. His wife, alarmed, asks what he is doing. He replies, "Well, I love you but I also love these other women. I mean, our wedding picture will be the biggest and all, but still, I can't give the others up.." Silly, I know, but that man is us. Jesus is the Lover of our souls and He beckons us to come away with Him so He can refresh us and love us. (see Song of Songs) And while we may answer from time to time He doesn't always have first place in our hearts. But He needs it. We need to place our hearts in His hands, and when we do we find a peace that comes from being intimate with the Lover of our souls. That is true love.

I want to leave you with this quote from Sara Groves' in her song "Love":
"Love of songs and pen, love of movie endings takes out the bend, leaves out the break, and misses love. Love's reality, not a passing bravery. It holds out hope beyond what's seen. The hope of love."