Never Doubt I love

“Doubt thou the stars are fire, Doubt that the sun doth move, Doubt truth to be a liar, But never doubt I love." Shakespeare, Hamlet

One thing I don’t understand is how people can take a word that means so much, and morph it into something that has no meaning at all. Since it is February and getting close to Valentine’s Day, I thought this would be a good opportunity to talk about love. I want to tell you about what love really means, at least to me.

When I think of "love" in the way people do around February 14th, all that comes to mind is a lot of people confusing their emotions with what is true. Today, love can have so many meanings, and they all seem to get really mixed up. We say, “I love you,” to almost anyone for almost any reason. It has become something that you automatically blurt out every time you say good-bye. You may say it every once in a while to your family members, but when you say it to them, most of the time it’s also when you are leaving or hanging up the phone. Many people sign their letters with, “Love, ________,” which is yet another fairly meaningless ending and good-bye. To me, love is not just a word and shouldn’t be one that you only say when you say good-bye. Love is really so much more than that.

I could give a long definition of the word love, but I won't. In the world today, I don't know very many people who truly understand the truth about love, and everything that it should mean. If I were to ask someone, "What does love mean to you?" I'm sure, depending on whomever I asked there would be a wide range of answers. Why would there be so many thoughts about what love means? I think it’s because we have managed to mix up three things that I don't think should go together at all – Love, Infatuation, and Feelings.

Now you may be thinking, "What? Don't those words always go together?" I guess in some ways they are similar. I know however, that true love is far more desirable than what some people would call "puppy love" or infatuation. And no matter what your feelings may be telling you, true love is another thing all to itself.

Here is what Wikipedia and the dictionary have to say about infatuation. …

Infatuation is the state of being completely carried away by unreasoned passion or love: 'expresses the headlong attraction of addictive love.' Usually, one is inspired with an intense but short-lived passion or admiration for someone.

Infatuate (or to be infatuated with) be inspired with an intense but short-lived passion or admiration for: She is infatuated with a handsome police chief.

Did you catch it? The key words there are short-lived passion or admiration. I don't ever want someone to say they love me without being absolutely sure they have their words, meanings, and intentions straightened out. Why would someone want a "love" that was really only short-lived admiration? Or a “love” that is based on the emotions of today, that can change tomorrow? I for one do not want that kind of “love.” In my mind, love means so much more than what many people think it does today. You will hear people say it without even thinking about it all the time. True love is not unreasonable or based solely on emotions.

You may not agree with me on this, but I know that the only reason I can truly love others is because God first loved me. The well known verse, John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not die, but have eternal life." In other words, God loves me and the entire world enough to send Jesus to die for our sins. That has to be an amazing kind of love that I don't want to miss or take for granted. This is the only true love that we can know, and it is our choice to try to imitate this true love. Natalie Lloyd says it best in her book Paperdoll: What Happens When an Ordinary Girl Meets and Extraordinary God.

From chapter 2: Love Like Water and Chaos.
“ I want a love that is infinite, not flimsy. I want to experience the kind of love that boggles my mind with its depth and dimension. I want a love I can hold up to my heart like a kaleidoscope. Change the way I see things. Change the way I live. Teach me how to love. Take this beautiful mess and make it a masterpiece. Love won’t shatter my heart with conditions. It accepts, uplifts, and redefines.
I want a love that gives me peace; a love that wraps around my shoulders like a blanket, pulling me close, whispering, ‘welcome home.’
I want a love like chaos, stirring my imagination, igniting me with passion, showing up in places I never expected.
I want a love I can swim in. I want to dive deeper and deeper and move faster against the current until I feel as if my lungs are going to explode. And then, when I break the surface, I want love to be my first furious breath of air—intoxicating, invigorating, alive.”

This is the kind of love I want to give and know for myself, I hope that everyone will want to know this kind of love as well.


Love is a promise. It is promise to keep and uphold theses truths no matter what:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, and 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.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7

If we could all love like this with no strings attached, and not say, “I love you” without meaning it, I think everyone would be much happier this Valentines Day.

~Jess~
2-7-12

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Want or Need?

This month I have been thinking quite a lot about the difference between the words want and need. I have come to the conclusion that we actually need very little. One only really needs food, as a substance to keep the body alive. Shelter to stay out of the weather, and clothes to cover us and to keep warm. Anything other than those things I would place in the want category. Along with that would also be anything over the top when it comes to food, shelter, and clothes. Could there be some other exceptions to this though? The reason I bring all of this up is because my teenage-girl-over-thinking-brain has not let me forget this list of things that I think I want. The trouble is what things do I need and what do I simply want? My mind keeps telling me that “every girl wants this…” and “every one needs that” but do I really need those thing at all? Now the list that keeps pestering my brain goes something like this… I want to… Be asked to go to prom Be swept off my feat by ...
Read more

Life's a Dance

John Michael Montgomery "Life's a dance you learn as you go Sometimes you lead, sometimes you follow Don't worry about what you don't know Life's a dance you learn as you go." Well, this month has been a bit of a roller coaster ride for me. Sort of like as soon as you get off of a really amazing ride when you can’t really walk straight and all you can say is wow. I have learned so much it’s fantastic! I learned that Tennessee is a pretty cool place to go on vacation, and if you stay where we did they have a pretty cool water park. I’m learning how important communication is. I have been writing so many letters and talking to dear friends so much lately it’s great! Also how to balance my schedule so I can be sure to get my work done and have fun too. I’m slowly figuring out where I want to go to college and what to major in. I know what I want to do but how to get there is looking like it will take some more time to learn. I ...
Read more