What is love? The age-old question that has baffled many!

Well many of us have told someone at some point in time that we loved him or her. We have wooed over the opposite sex and done many of things that we thought were spurred by love. We as young people tend to get a false identity of true love and this often leads to a broken heart or getting our feelings hurt. Love is something that is discussed in the bible and true love can be described as a way of sacrifice. You see love in the bible is described like this. God says, �that love suffers long and is kind, it does not envy, does not parade itself, is not puffed up, does not behave rudely, is not self seeking (selfish), is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in inequities (lies), but rejoices in truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things, and above all it (love) never fails (1 Corinthians 13:4-8).� Now some of you may look at this and laugh or you may say, �Yeah right, that is just your opinion.� Well this is not my opinion this is the way God describes love. Many of us have a false interpretation of love because we do not know the giver of love, which is God the Father. You see God is the author of love, He wrote the book that descries love and He showed us His love through Jesus Christ. The only way we can even make an attempt to know and experience true love is to have a true and meaningful relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Once we develop this relationship, then the Holy Spirit can work through us and we can love others the way Christ loved us.

The truth of the matter is we let our own bodies tell us what love is rather than letting God show us what true love is. We often think that we have to show our love to someone by buying him or her things they like or by other ways of showing them that we love them. Many times we often make the mistake of thinking that kissing, cuddling, touching, or even having sex is love. This is not true love if these things are taking place outside of where God said for them to take place. Just because you say that you love someone does not mean that you should have or even think about having a physical relationship with him or her. Buying gifts, having sex and things of this nature often confuses us as to what true love is. There is a song that I think the Beetles sang, Can�t Buy Me Love. Oh how true how true!!

In order to get an understanding of true love, let me paint you a picture. A man lives on this earth for about thirty-three years and does nothing wrong in the eyes of God, He does not commit any form of sin. At about the age of thirty this man starts to tell others about God and He follows everything that God leads Him to do. He then, after three years of going from place to place preaching the Gospel is told he will be crucified. He is put in front of a court and wrongly accused. Then he is thrown into jail until the next day when He is to be crucified. Before He is crucified, he is stretched out before a pot and whipped thirty plus times. This is no simple whip, it is a whip that has nine leather strands with jagged glass and metal embedded into each strip. After he is whipped and the flesh is torn from His back, the Roman guards throw a bucket of salt on his back for their own amusement. He is then crowned with thorns (each thorn measuring about two inches or so), which pierce his skull and cause Him to bleed profusely from the wounds. He is led through a crowded city carrying the very cross He will be hung from to died , while people spit on Him and assault Him until He collapses. It is not the weight of the cross which He stumbles from, rather the lose of blood which pours out upon the ground. As if that was not enough, they nail five to six inch spikes into his hands and even longer ones into both of His feet, to secure Him to the cross. When they raise the cross into the air for everyone to see and it dropped into the hole so it could stand; it fell with such a force that both of His arms were dislocated. In order for Him to breath He had to push up on this nail that was in his feet. What more could they have done? Plenty. When He finally asked for something to drink, he was given warm sour vinegar instead of cool water that was readily available. This man who did nothing to deserve this cruel punishment did this because He loved us. He loved each and every one and this is what true love is. He lived a life of selflessness and then bore the weight of that cross so that we may have a chance to live in heaven with Him and God.

So when you tell someone you love him or her and that you would do anything for them, remember this little story. Could you do this or are you just saying that word �love� to fill a void that one of you may be feeling. This is what true love is all about and when you are in a relationship with the opposite sex, I encourage you to ask yourself this question, �Do I love them as Christ loved us?� This is the way we are suppose to love our spouses ((Galatians 5:25)). Ladies and gentleman this is what love is all about and it is important that we abide in this ((1 Corinthians 13:13)). Since we know that dating is the first step in our walk towards marriage, we should look at these love qualities and see if they apply to our relationship. Take your time, allow yourself to examine your romantic interests in the light of God�s Word. Love is not self-indulgent. Are your views and feelings respected by the person you feel you love? Do they show eagerness for your plans and not just theirs? Are you pressured to do things that are not of God, just to satisfy passions? Is this person building you up when you are alone and in front of others or do they ever tear you down? These kinds of questions can assist you in looking at your feelings objectively. And remember, even the most beautiful wrapping can cover up a useless gift. �Charm can be deceptive and beauty is fleeting� ((Proverbs 31:30)).

Let me share one more thing with you that can be found in Leo Buscaglia�s book, LOVE. It is a good example of how God loves us and how we should in turn love another.

�So we find love is many things, though we know it�s not a thing in the sense that it cannot be bought or sold or weighed or measured. Love can only be given, expressed freely. It can�t be captured or held, for it�s neither there to tie nor to hold. It�s in everyone and everything in varying degrees and awaits actualization. It�s not apart from the self...... There are not kinds of love, love is love......... Love is trusting, accepting and believing, without guarantee. Love is patient and waits, but it�s an active waiting not a passive one. For it is continually offering itself in a mutual revealing, a mutual sharing. Love is spontaneous and craves expression through joy, beauty, through truth, even through tears. Love lives the moment; it�s neither lost in yesterday nor does it crave for tomorrow. Love is Now!!!