Love Is Many Things
“Everyone has an opinion about how to keep the magic in romance but what works for one person might not work for you.”
Trusting your heart to someone for safekeeping is a risk that many of us shudder at the thought of doing. We have issues with trust and can come up with a most convincing story as to why we would rather be alone. We don’t want to experience a broken heart, which is the worse pain of all. However, God wants us to know every facet of His love and that includes the love between a man and a woman.
Couples are leaning less toward commitment and marriage and more toward companionship or just a warm body to cuddle up to at night. Some couples are saying I do and six months to a year later, they’re saying I don’t.
Everyone has an opinion about how to keep the magic in romance but what works for one person might not work for you. People have written scores of books on the subject but the problem just keeps getting bigger and bigger and couples are drifting further and further apart.
Too often couples simply accept things as they are and believe that having a love that doesn’t fill you up is better than not having love at all. Again, it’s whatever floats your boat. Then there is the couple that exudes the facade of a happy union for twenty years, but the divorce uncovers a masquerade for the sake of the children.
Love is enduring tough times. Love is masquerading for the sake of the children. Love is the essence of our being and gives meaning to our existence on earth. It is not perfect because we are not perfect. Love expresses who and what we are. It is the reflection of our soul— our inner self.
We are not separate from love—we are love. Whatever you are, love is. If you walk out on conflicts rather than seek solutions or compromises, then in a relationship, your love will reflect that. If you are a person that is consumed with anger and distrust, your love will reflect hostility, displeasure, and even rage.
The biblical story of King David of Israel (in the Old Testament) clearly depicts the limits one will go to have the love he believes is for him. However, there can be dire consequences for the way we choose to express our love. To win the love of Bathsheba, King David had Uriah, her husband, killed on the battlefield so that he might marry her. The tactics David used to prevail in his love for Bathsheba reflected how he gained dominion over things by force of arms whether in war or in love.
If we could view love without a preconceived notion of what it should look or feel like, we can begin to truly experience love in the way the Creator intended. When the heart is pouring ‘blue’ tears, love is present. When the heart is experiencing great joy, love is present. Love is always at the heart of every situation— even the upheaval in our mind to accept our purpose for living.
"Love is many things and it doesn’t always look like a present wrapped in a big, beautiful bow . . ."
We believe that if we put the adjective real before love it somehow clarifies in our mind that anything of a negative nature could not possibly be of love. Love is breaking up and getting back together. Love is leaving to find yourself. Love is very specific and knows what it needs because you know what fills your ‘cup.’ Love needs to be nourished, and when it’s not, it retreats.
There is only one “pure love” and that is the love of Spirit, and He loves us completely although we lie, cheat, steal, commit adultery, or kill. He also loves us completely when we respond in love to others with patience, understanding, thoughtfulness, and forgiveness.
Love is many things and it doesn’t always look like a present wrapped in a big, beautiful bow nor does it always smell like a fresh bouquet of spring flowers. Sometimes, love is just the opposite because love is . . .
© 1996 Shar'Ron Mahaffey
Reprinted by Permission
"Reflections of You® Journal" (ISSN 1087-4062)
December 1996, Volume 1 Issue 3
