The Bible speaks of it often like a word we should understand. A word that we should grasp hold of and cherish. We tend to assume that “love” comes easy and is always exciting. We associate love with being feelings of joy and anxiousness. But, if love is that simple feeling, then what happens when it feels less one day, week, or month? For this reason we should take into account that the love the Bible speaks about is not a feeling at all. Love is an action that is often followed by feelings of any emotion such as joy, sorrow, completeness, etc. Using the Bible as an example, God showed his love by sacrificing his son for us all. That action was accompanied by sorrow from Jesus' friends and mother (Mary). It was also a day that we as Christians look back on as a day full of love, commitment, sacrifice, and joy.
Many people get married and have children. We would hope that as one gets married they would know what it is to love. So, what is love? Love is an action of putting someone else before yourself. Period. That is it. Are you surprised? This is a hard task that no one does everyday perfectly. We often don't realize that we are as selfish as we are. For example, we don't realize that when we had something to celebrate no matter small or large, our friends celebrated with us but yet when someone we know (notice I didn't necessarily classify them as a friend) has something to celebrate, we don't whole-heartedly get excited with them. We fail to put them before our feelings, job, or task at hand. A wife should do all things through love for her husband. Meaning, do everything in the best interest of her husband. But, wait! Won't I as a wife never get a day to myself or get to do the things I enjoy? Well, that depends on if your husband loves you back. If he is looking out for your best interest then you should get to do things you love as a gift from him to say he recognizes that you love that event and knows it is an enjoyment to you. For example, my husband and I grew up together.
So, changing together through time has been a lessoned learned through the years. This year we will celebrate 10 years since we first started our journey on learning what it is to love. Matt knows that I enjoy a clean house, (This is starting with the small things. The massage, pedicure, manicure, hiking, etc comes later.. ) therefore, he will make it a point to do dishes or wash the sheets before I get home. A small sign of putting my joys in front of what he wanted to do, like play video games. I get home and get to enjoy a relaxing evening thanks to him. So to put his interest before mine, I give him some time to play video games. Then , before bed time, we make a point to do something together. This is normally sitting outside and talking, playing a game, or you know. Not every night do we do a routine of kissing up to each other. We are not a perfect couple but we try to do those small things that end up being very big acts of love.
Love starts with the small things and then should become all things. Love should be first accomplished with your husband and children and then to everyone you meet. These are two times where the Bible talks about loving others. (Mark 12:28-31; John 13:34-3) If love is something that comes with time, is an emotion, or is something you do once someone has been nice to you, then why and how do we do this to everyone? The point is love is not a feeling . There are plenty of feelings that can come with love but don't mistake that feeling as love. When a child is born parents often say, “I loved them before they were born.” This is not because it took the baby moving in them to make then feel something which led to love. It is because that parent knew that a life was coming into the world that would need everything from them. That child would depend on nothing but the action of love. The action of that mother putting that baby before everything she wanted or needed. Read these words very slowly and make sure to not pass a word without fully understanding what action it requires for from you. You never know when we have all used a word thousands of times a day and not have known what it really meant.
“Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.” (NRSV, 1 Corinthians 13:4-8)
Let us end with a translation for comprehension and application purposes. Love is an act of being patient, being kind. You should not be jealous of someone else or a possession. You should not brag about your doings like they are any better than someone else's and you should not be rude. You should not act on having it like Burger King gives it. You should not be irritated by little things your friends, family, husband, or children do but yet except them for who they are. You should not carry on about something someone did wrong but rejoice in the way you handle the situation with love. Your actions should speak with positive attitude and hopefulness. You actions should speak loudly that you can endure all things. Your actions should be the strength to who you are as a person.
