Love is Not An Open Door..... It's a Covenant

"Feelings!
Ooooooh, Ooooooh,
 Feelings!"

(if you didn't get that reference..... watch this..... Now you can finish reading)

Or, in more modern words-----
"All my life has been a series of doors in my face
And then suddenly I bump into you!

 

I was thinking the same thing! 'Cause like
I've been searching my whole life to find my own place
And maybe it's the party talking or the chocolate fondue...."

So... as we in the US approach Valentines Day, I figured I'd get something out of the way...

We've all seen them. They're glued together like Siamese twins. Always petting, always kissing. Gushing to everyone in sight about their partner. Totally, hopelessly, well... silly. Forgetting their keys... their lunch.... all their old friends.

They're "In Love"
They're "Fallen in Love."

Have you ever thought about that phrase? How exactly did they fall in love? Did they trip? Was it something they couldn't stop? Is this a Calvinist saying? Is there no free will around here?

I looked up the definition of "Love" in Merriam Webster:

Definition of love                                                     

1 a (1) : strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties

• maternal love for a child

(2) : attraction based on sexual desire : affection and tenderness felt by lovers

• After all these years, they are still very much in love.

(3) : affection based on admiration, benevolence, or common interests

• love for his old schoolmates

b : an assurance of affection

• give her my love

2 : warm attachment, enthusiasm, or devotion

• love of the sea

3 a : the object of attachment, devotion, or admiration

• baseball was his first love

That is one word with way too many definitions. Everything from Mother-child love, Husband-wife  love, Human-God love...... and Human-Candy Corn love.

 

"I love you, Mommy!"

"I just love ice cream!"

"Love ya, Sis!"

"I love you so much, Jesus!"

I love you, Honey! Will you...."

 

Gracious!

 

How exactly did we decide one word could handle all that pressure?!

 

I've been told that in many other languages, there are many words for love.

 

The Greek used in the New Testament is one.

There's Eros, that's sexual love.

And Phileo, that's brother/deep friend love.

Storge, which is parent and child love.

And finally Agape, which is the deep love of God for us, and the church for each other.

 

The only one that can really be "fallen into" is Eros.... also know as lust, physical attraction, or the 'hots'.

The other three require friendship, time, and work. Mostly work.

This quote says it all:

"Young love is a flame; very pretty, often very hot and fierce, but still only light and flickering. The love of the older and disciplined heart is as coals, deep-burning, unquenchable."

Henry Ward Beecher

To put it bluntly.... This thing we've been calling love is nothing more than warm fuzzies. There is nothing wrong with warm fuzzies... they have a place. But they come and they go. They get smothered under work, children, and trials.

 

True, real love on the other hand, is hard. It's work, blood, sweat, and tears. Every day, forever. It's choosing everyday that you're still going to do this thing. It's refusing to let your hormones drive the train. It's deciding every second to serve, to give, to sacrifice. Until you die.

 

If a picture is worth a thousand words...

then let me give you a picture of True Love....

 

That is love. And we're never going to be able to do it. That's why we try. Over and over. And say we're sorry. And forgive, and forget, and throw away all the records. And cry, and laugh, and pick ourselves up and dust each other off. Forever.

 

So, no, you don't fall in love.

And no, what you feel on your second date isn't love.

Or what you feel on the day you propose, although you might be getting a hint.

 

This isn't love

 

 

 This is.

 

And, since you made it this far, I'm going to give you a reward for busting your eardrums earlier....

And before I go---
Shouts out to all my poor readers, everywhere. We're international, folks! We're from the US, Jamaica, Canada, UK, South Africa, Australia, Brazil, India, Spain and Slovakia! Howdy to all of you!
(And yes, I'm on a photo high.)