Some say it makes the world go round. Others say it's just a feeling when you see that special someone. Some people even use it to describe their addiction to the cocoa-based substance called chocolate. Yeap, if you were to search in a dictionary or ask only three people, I'm sure you'd get a lot of definitions of the word.
And don't get me started on songs! Ever since rock 'n' roll erupted back in the 50's, the main lyrical content behind almost every chart topping song was.... (I'm going to give you a hint here, it wasn't world peace)
Yeap you guessed it. LOVE. The subject matter has been ripped apart, pieced together and then thrashed on radio more times than I want to even imagine. Of course, everyone's got their own take on it, and after awhile you start to get mixed messages. I mean Crowded House are proclaiming "Love will always win" while Joy Division assures us that "Love will tear us apart".
While all this gets super confusing, I guess the real question is: what is love to you?
So, with this question in mind, I will attempt to tackle the much-debated subject. Here goes...
I always get super nervous when talking about love. I guess one of the reasons why is because I haven't really had experience with it, so I always think my thoughts don't really count for anything. But then again, I have stepped close to the edge of this mysterious feeling. And like pretty much every other person on the planet, sometimes I've stepped back with a few scars. Luckily enough so far I've just skirted the edges so my heart has managed to stay relatively unbroken. You know, falling in love always seemed like a bad idea to me. When you fall, you don't know what's going to happen once you hit the ground. And if obstacles are cluttering up the place you land, then you're bound to come off worse for wear.
But then sometimes I wonder what it would feel like to be in love. To have that one person which you care more about than anything else in the world. And to have the stability of knowing they will be behind you every step of the way. It sounds like a pretty good deal right?
My thoughts on love are varied. There's a pessimistic part of me which feels like screaming every time I see a couple. This side believes it's never going to work out - that human love is something which only lasts for a period of time before it dies. And this side tells me that I'm never going to be good enough, cool enough or talented enough for anyone to love me.
But then there's another side of me which knows what love really is.
I wrote a song about it once. The one and only song I've written about it so far. It was called "Love is more than this" and was the best thing I'd ever written at the time. After a late night chat with a really close friend (SHOUTOUT RACHEL!!! Sorry it's been a long time coming) I went away feeling super inspired, and wrote this awesome song about how love is not just a story about boy meeting girl and the feelings and actions they do after that; instead it's about how God loved us and sent his son to die for us. And man even now I get the chills when I think about that revelation. See I can't even imagine living for someone every day of my life, let alone dying for someone. And Jesus didn't do it just for one person, he did it for the world. Can you imagine how many people that is? To put it one way, it would be like every second of his life, he was dying for someone. And man, that just blows everything else out of the water.
It's amazing how knowing all that we still want more.
Perfect love has been shown for us, and yet for some strange reason, we still crave imperfect, human love.
And lately it's been getting me down how long I've been able to live without it. Suddenly my heart starts doing backflips inside my chest and my palms start sweating and I start worrying if I'm ever going to find anyone. Or if I've already found them. Or if I've found them and lost them. My head starts thinking down for or five different trains of thoughts and my heart doesn't even know where to look or what to say. And it's been screwing me over.
Last night, I went to Wellington for this conference on relationships called Huge. And it was super well-timed what with me worrying about it all and everything. I went up not really expecting a lot other than some fun times with my awesome Life Group, but came away so completely refreshed and blown away once again by God's mercy and grace and how very relevant he is to my every moment. As well as getting some legit good advice, I loved how we started and finished with worship and prayer. Just making sure he stays in the center - like it SHOULD be, both in relationships and in life itself.
So, I want to share with you know some of the best quotes and advice I've heard about love (some from last night, some from other places...)
"Love is a verb" -from the book "I would Die for you"
"And these three things remain, faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." - 1 Corinthians 13:13.
"There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out all fear." - 1 John 4:8. This really relates to last nights advice about not getting into a relationship for the wrong reasons, such as fear that you'll be alone.
"Patience is not waiting. Patience is how you act while you are waiting." - On the same trail of advice.
"Hey girl do you know what love is? You think you know, you've got all the clothes, and the makeup but it's another breakup.... Do you really know, or are you just dying to go?"
I don't know about you, but I think I've finally got this in the right order. My relationship with Christ is going to be above and beyond anything I ever feel about any girl. I don't just want to know Him, I know I want Him. And I'm looking forward to how awesome life is going to be when I put him first.
"What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met."
-Matthew 6:31-32 (The Message)
1 comment:
GOLD.
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