Of Psychology and Psychosomatics

This Love

I’ve struggled with the concept of love for years. There are always new facets and misunderstood realities that people reveal, discover, accept, ignore. I’ve always imagined myself capable of loving another person in more ways than one, or capable of two kinds of love. But the topic has arisen again, and I find myself unable to understand the difference between romance and love. How could one exist without the other? How can I love without the flutter, the euphoria, all the things that confuse so many to invoke “love” in the first place?

The idea that love takes work, and effort, and sometimes unrewarded self-sacrifice, is still completely foreign to me. I probably wouldn’t call that love. It would be “selflessness”, or “obedience”, or “patience”. But those are all qualities of love, and now we have arrived at the other side, the right-to-left definition. And once again I wish I could see the big picture, or at least farther out than my own tiny plans.

Let love have its way with me.

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One response to “This Love”

  1. Mama Lisa Avatar
    Mama Lisa

    Here is what I’m learning: We love because – and ONLY because – God first loved us. Therefore, the definition begins and ends with HIM. And, although various languages use various words (and sometimes many different words) to explain all of the intricacies and subtle different aspects of love, if you truly want to discover more about love and all its complexities, you’ll have to find HIM, and then let Him show you what He wants to show you. He’s the one who gives us the ability to love in the first place, so why would we look anywhere else? It’s a monumental waste of our time and energies. It’s like going to Walmart and asking the nice, 60-something associate in the Hannah Montana department to show you the million-dollar Vera Wang wedding gowns. Only more so. Much more.

    You already know this, but I’ll say it anyway: God loves you with an everlasting love. His love is perfect and without condition. He IS love, but He is also light, and they are in perfect balance. His love compelled Him to create mankind for fellowship with Himself as His very own (generosity and desire ), to strive faithfully with mankind even when we were unfaithful (patience and perseverance), and to come to earth and give His own life as a ransom to restore that severed fellowship (self-sacrifice and obedience). His love is all-encompassing. There’s nothing you can tell God about your thoughts or experience with love that He doesn’t understand. Bottom line: He’s the go-to Guy for all your ponderings. Find Him and you’ll find Love.

    xo

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