I marvel at the way people casually think that liking and/or
lusting for someone equates to love. I mean, it’s so mind-blowing to me it’s
scary (not to mention a bit dangerous.) But it’s common. Think about it. I
don’t know too many people who haven’t liked, lusted, or loved someone at one
point or another, but when it comes to the love part, I think a lot
of people get things twisted, which probably explains a lot of the broken
hearts, mixed messages, temporary satisfaction, bed-hopping, sexually
transmitted diseases, unplanned pregnancies, and failed relationships that are
happening more and more each day. People think they’re in love
when really they just like someone, have caved to lust, or even worse, are
infatuated with someone and under the impression that those feelings are real
love.
Confession: I don’t know what a healthy relationship looks like.
So, for me to want something as serious as a relationship without
the precedent of what a healthy one looks like, is challenging. I’ll have to
have faith and start from scratch. I think liking or lusting after someone
is easy. Neither takes much effort, yet, so many people fall into illusions
that both equal love. Love seems like very, very, hard work. I believe that
falling in love and staying in love with someone takes
tremendous amounts of commitment, patience, maturity, and selflessness.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 reads, “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, it keeps no records of wrongs. Love
does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects,
always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”
That’s the real definition of love.