What is LOVE? ...About 3,920,000,000 results (0.15 seconds)... love/l?v/
Noun: An intense feeling of deep affection: "their love for their country".
Verb: Feel a deep romantic or sexual attachment to (someone): "do you love me?".
http://www.google.com/#hl=en&authuser=0&...And there you have it... Google has just answered the age-old question in 0.15 seconds!
"What is love?" According to "G" whenever you hear the word "love" as a person place or thing (noun) patriotism comes to mind? AND whenever you see love in action (verb) romance and "sexual attachment" sums it up? Mmmm. Somehow I thought there was more to love... maybe if we kept it to an online search our expectations wouldn't be so high... or if we all signed up for military service, we would all exemplify love (noun)...
and quite possibly not even need love (verb).... someone trying to tell us something?
Unfortunately the media-saturated world has almost the same opinion as "G" ...so I checked out a few sources and found that there is more tho love than what first comes up in an internet search. I found that there are basically 6 attributes of love; 5 love languages; 4 Greek words that describe love; 3 Directions of Love; 2 main perspectives; and 1 virtual epitome of love. Love is a great topic to study out, both historically and contemporaneously... it offers more than just insight, it offers options and potential to those who practice love, and enjoy it's reward.
6 Attributes of love:
1) Love is patient; 2) Love is kind; 3) Love always protects; 4) Love always trusts; 5) Love always hopes; 6) Love always perseveres (Bible: 1 Corinthians 13:4-7)
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?sea...No matter the "language, description, kinds and perspective" ...these attributes of love are undisputed, I believe that is why so many weddings features these words from the famous "love chapter" in the Bible. Even Solomon in all his wisdom and graphic illustory in the Song of Solomon (center of the Bible), could not have pinned it down as this passage in the New Testament does. It also bears a foundational truth: Love is a choice.
5 Love Languages:
1) Words of Affirmation; 2) Quality Time; 3) Receiving Gifts; 4) Acts of Service; 5) Physical Touch (The 5 Love Languages by Dr. Gary Chapman)
http://www.5lovelanguages.com/learn-the-...It is not good enough to love someone the way we want to be loved... each of us are different and perceive love differently. Some of us love to be touched... while others really feel loved by a timely kind word. Others love a thoughtful act of service, yet others are smitten with a gift or the time one has taken to show affection. Gary Chapman's book offers keys to opening the heart of a loved one... while exposing reasons for our failed attempts at expression. While the Bible gives us the attributes to Love... this book gives it a vehicle to both deliver, and receive love's greatest intentions.
4 Greek words that describe Love:
1) Agápe; unconditional love, not dependent on reciprocation
2) Éros; passionate love, with sensual desire and longing
3) Philia; friendship or brotherly love
4) Storge; natural affection, like that felt by parents for offspring
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_words...At the heart of every expression is motive. These 4 Greek words for "love" define the motive of the love expressed... no matter the attribute, or the language one tends to communicate love in... one of these basic motives will be the driving force behind the love you desire, or behind the love you seek to communicate. As you can see, when we dig a bit deeper... love is not as objective as on may have thought, it is not as simple as loving or being loved. Yet understanding our primary driver (motive), we can easier understand how people may perceive our attempts at love, and our assessment of the actions of others. Hang in there, there are only 3 more to go.
3 Directions of Love:
1) Expressing; 2) Sharing; 3) Encounter.
1) I would like to offer my opinion on these last three facets of love's grandeur. I have found that just as love is a choice; the very expression from ourselves or others... it is at this point directed as a gift, tool, or mechanism for either reciprocation or simply just for our own enjoyment. With all the motives listed above one can "see" love even as a manipulation or method to hurt or confuse... so Expression can be misinterpreted.
2) This brings us to a better manifestation if you will, sharing. Sharing is dependent on mutual understanding, and not necessarily on the balance or the measure of the "amount" of love being shared... rather the very point of the experience is that it is symbiotic, and dependent on each participant.
3) However differing from these... an "Encounter" with love is not dependent on a person. Most people know what an encounter with love is... generally by the very lack of it. The feeling, understanding, the state of being with or without love, is what I am talking about. Many draw conclusions to their entire lives by momentary encounters with love or the lack of this desired encounter. We all want to be loved... yet we seem discriminant as to who and where we would like this love to come from; this leads to this desire for an "encounter" ...and for those who truly "encounter" love... one word could could more accurately describe it... as contentment. Knowing one's value apart from others, and independent even of our own opinions of our selves, is contentment.
2 Main Perspectives of Love:
1) Ours; 2) Others.
It seems rather redundant at this point to point out the obvious... however some people just don't get that they are not the center of the Universe! There are others in this world besides us, equally valuable and equally important. I have found the most fulfilled people on the planet focus on others. Notice I didn't say happiest... they may not be happier than the next person, but just as the one who builds his building on a good foundation and with good materials... fulfillment will be the guarantied outcome for the diligent builder. Many times counselors will tell chronically depressed people to do something for someone else as therapy. I say from what I have seen...
serve others for mere survival!
1 Virtual Epitome of Love:
Jesus said... "Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends." (John 15)"By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers." (1 John 3:16)
UPDATE - 11 months ago
A funny thing happened yesterday, right before I was trying to draw a conclusion to this rave.... my wife called and needed a ride, carrying our newborn (2 month old) foster child, walking with our 10 year-old. So I dropped everything (keyboard, and few remaining gray-cells) and rushed out the door. You see I was already later than when I said I would be there. By these events I would like to illustrate how "love" may or may not have been shown by my actions, as conclusion to this rave.
For an attribute of love demonstrated I choose 3) Love always protects; I did not want my wife and children walking on a back-road, much less having to carry our infant (she didn't have a stroller). At this point I know my wife of 26 years a bit... she wasn't happy about the situation, but luckily it was an opportunity to speak her "love language" 4) Acts of Service. Even though I was expected to do this anyway... and was late, resulting in my wife walking a block or two before phoning me... she was thankful, and not grouchy about it.
Now let's get to my "motive" ...the four Greek words will help to assess my motive for "dropping everything" ...first lets rule out Agape Love, because I definitely wasn't showing unconditional love. Éros Love (sensual desire) maybe? Well, I am a man... and my wife IS a HOTTIE! ...well, no that wasn't my motive, this time. And it wasn't just because she was family and it was my duty... rather it was 3) Philia; friendship with my wife, that made me do only what I should have already done.
And as to the "direction" of Love being illustrated... well, it wasn't that I initiated this act of love, so it really wasn't my "expression" of my love. It wasn't because I was so in the "state of love" and that I was "feeling it" ...rather it was 2) Sharing; a mutual understanding and commitment to take care of each other without the burden of expectation. But was it my sense of "others" that motivated this "act of love" (dropping this rave to pick up my wife), to be honest it wasn't. When it came to perspective it wasn't "others" but 1) "Ours" or self; that was the perspective I was operating from. I was in survival mode, if I really was thinking of others I would have postponed my rave until after I was to pick up my wife and children. Sorry my focus on self got me into this predicament to begin with.
Lastly, I wasn't the "epitome" of Love... rather a common example of doing enough to get-by. Definitely not going the extra mile, or laying my life down. This may not be the way we analyze every act of love we do, but it is a good exercise to take inventory once and awhile. If one wants to be a better "lover" ...practice makes perfect.