Love Is...

4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

One of the greatest gifts we are given in life, is freedom.
God has given us the freedom to choose, something as essential as whether to believe in him or not. What good would we be if we were pre-programmed to love him? This is why love is so important, because it offers an opportunity to make a decision. If we are not given that opportunity to decide, how would it ever be something that we could come to cherish? Being forced to do something creates obligation, and bitterness, and not a genuine intrest or desire.

The first synonym referenced to the definition of love, is 1. tenderness
Are we being tender with the ones we love? Are we listening to them?
Years ago I read in "The Five Love Languages" about a marriage that was suffering greatly but the couple just did not know what to do. One wanted to fix things, the other seemed to be uninterested; the wife expressed how she had done so much to try to love him, she'd tried a number of things. After over a year of "Therapy" I guess you would call it, they first embraced the idea of the "love languages." They saved their marriage, by simply listening to each other. They were so wrapped up in trying to do things for each other, or maybe their sex life was suffering, but it was as simple as listening to each other.

Listening to someone gives them the ultimate respect, it shows them that you care. It can be one of the greatest ways to show someone that you genuinely are interested in them and what they have to say. Sometimes, it's the little things that can make the biggest difference.

A wise man once told me, "Love is doing what's best for someone, no matter what it means for you or for them." Love is not proud, it does not have it's own agenda. And, it will never be manifested, until freedom is found.