Why is it that we buy into all the images about LOVE which the media portrays? Is it love to walk away from a relationship? Is it love to throw yourself at the newest hot thing in your life? Is it love to be in a relationship for 'what's in it for me'? Is it love to leave your wife and children? Is it really love if you can 'fall out of love'?
Many people have bought into a false sense of what love is, and because of that, we are paying the price in our most cherished relationships. In the past year I have seen moms leave their husbands and children. I have seen teenagers with no place to call home because mom and dad don't want them or each other anymore. I have seen dating couples truly believe that love is represented by how well their sex life is doing. I have seen couples switch partners because they say they don't love each other anymore.
Are these scenarios what love brings? No. Lust does. Infatuation does. Selfishness does. Emotional immaturity does. But love does not.
Jesus told His followers to love one another as He loved them (John 15). How did He love them and us? He served. He humbled Himself. He laid down his life. He is the truest expression of love the world has ever known.
The Apostle Paul wrote to the followers of Jesus in the city of Corinth: "Love is patient. Love is kind. It does not envy. Love does not boast. It is not prideful. It is not rude. Love is not self-seeking. It is not easily angered. It keeps no record of wrongs. Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres" (1 Corinthians 13:4f, FBV). Try measuring your love by this standard. It is God's standard. And it represents what true LOVE is all about.
Love enables you to care for your sick partner. Love enables you to ignore and overlook their mistakes - against you and others. Love enables you to be strong and say the truthful thing, even if it hurts to say it. Love enables you to forgive and forget. Love enables you to not walk away, but face the truth about yourself.
If your relationship is missing love, perhaps you might want to start loving. If you think you have fallen out of love, perhaps it is time for you to practice loving until you feel it again. Love doesn't just happen. It is the result of dedicated selflessness.
Ask God to fill you with His Love. After all, He said the fruit of the Holy Spirit in one's life is LOVE (Galatians 5:22).
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