WHAT IS LOVE?

Love is patient, love is kind.
It does not envy, it does not boast,
It is not proud. It does not dishonor others,
It is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered,
It keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil
but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts,
always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails.
Corinthians 13:4-8 (NIV)

Real love is not possessive or exclusive. When we love someone, we want everyone to love them - we want them to live in the glow of loving and being loved by everyone. If you find the previous sentence challenging, please remember that true love is not sex or lust, and focus on the vital importance of keeping those concepts separate.

True love is generous. It is strengthened, rather than weakened, by adversity. In times of trouble, real love shines and sustains both those who love and those who are loved.

True love is never conditional. One can never say, "I'll love you, if you love me." That would describe some desperate bargain, but nothing approaching real love could be a part of it. True love is not diminished by circumstances. Can you imagine loving someone less because they broke a leg? Got an infection? Lost their job? A love that depends upon the talents and capabilities of the other is conditional, and not real love.

What is Love?
What is the Nature of True Love?
- by Jonathan Lockwood Huie

What is Love? Love is a feeling of affection toward someone or something. We can love our comfortable old bathrobe, we can love God, we can love all of humanity, and we can love our Grandmother. All true love is wonderful, but let's focus here on the feeling of love by one specific person for another specific person. Even so, our love for our spouse is very different from our love for our child, our parent, our friend, or our love for the homeless person we pass a dollar bill to at the corner.

You know you love someone when you know you want them to be happy,
even if their happiness means that you are not a part of it.
- Anonymous

Real love is never a selfish emotion. If you want something from someone - especially if that something is sex - what you are feeling is not love. The wonderful quote above provides an infallible test for love. True love is about wanting happiness for the person you love - and not about seeking happiness for yourself. Fortunately, in most cases our own loving presence is the greatest gift we can give to a person we love. Nonetheless, the litmus test of love is knowing we would choose never to see that person again if we believed that distance would bring them greater happiness.