A Thought: Love is Like…?

I believe Humans have invented Love.

That is, Humans have invented a kind of love for themselves that is what they believe love actually IS. But is what we know of as love really all that it could be? Does it give us what we think it ‘should’?

Do we actually know what real love is? Or have we adopted and created a poor replica which passes for the real thing.

What does it mean  – to love, Truly?

Consider the difference between ‘love’ and ‘like’.

If you ask yourself (or someone you meet) the difference between the two most people, i think, would respond that love is sort of like like except it is a greater feeling or emotion than to just like something. For instance, i like Dogs but i love Old English Sheep Dogs (and German Shepherds) in particular. Some people might say they like chocolate but i ( and probably most of you reading with the exception of poet Ric) LOVE chocolate! 🙂

While many of us would agree with such a distinction between love and like, my recent reading and understanding sees a problem with this.

Many, if not all, of us would divide the world up into two parts: Things we like, and things we don’t like (with some things falling somewhere in between where we either don’t care enough either way or there are things which have elements of both within the one thing).

This is where i find the biggest distinction between love and like.

For if we are to love Truly, we are to love that which we like and that which we do not like, equally. (Matt 5:46; Lk 6:32).

If True Love is to live within us we are to learn how to love, not only the good and enjoyable things, but also the things which we feel are less than enjoyable; the not-so-good, even the downright miserable making things that arrive from time to time in all our lives.

How do we love that which we like with equal vigour and fervor to the things we don’t like.

Only then can we be said to have the Love of God within us.

For all things originally are of God and the things which try our character and serve to discipline us and stregthen us, and not lead to weakness, are sent from Him also and to not then love that which serves His Plan is to deny us from the Truth of who He is and who we are. If we are to love God with all our heart then we are to love every second of our life experience: good, bad, boring or indifferent  as our emotional selves determines them to be.

That can be incredibly difficult for the average human to put into practice in today’s world.

1 Corinthians 13 says that Love (Charity – brotherly love) does not seek it’s own (only the things like it is); thinks NO evil; Bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things and endures all things – it does not only do those for things it likes, but for ALL things. That is the true nature of (our) Love – The Love that comes from, and is of, and IS God.

It is that which we are to ‘seek’ and draw out from within ourselves to perfect it that others might also see and seek it within them and do as we do.

Or so i believe.

There is more on this thought to come… later 🙂

Live Love.