Weeelll here is my thought.
You know how people freak out about saying “I love you” to someone else? Why?
Why can we say I love you to our friends, but skirt around the issue when it’s someone we really like and reeaallyy care about?
Love is unconditional. In any occasion. Love doesn’t come in different flavors for different situations. When you tell someone you love them, you should be telling them that “Hey, I care about you more than you think. I would give anything I could to make you happy. In fact, I care about your happiness more than I do my own. AND I’ll choose to love you no matter how much you piss me off.”
That’s the kind of love we have for family and friends. The love we have for our significant others is based on the same foundation. It’s basically saying the EXACT same thing but also “Hey, I’m actually very attracted to you too and I like sharing things with you that I might not share with everyone else”.
So it shouldn’t be such a big deal to tell someone you love them.
Next, ever think about God’s love? If you thought the previously mentioned love was cool, try thinking about HIS love.
Ever seen The Mummy Returns? There is this one scene where the husband and wife are innocently digging for archaeological ruins in a large cavern type thing. And then all of a sudden (well, not really, there is an actual reason), this big wave of water bursts through the wall and envelops them. That’s what I think of when I think of God’s love. It’s enormous and it feels unending and it’s impossible to run away from. It bears down on you with such a weight that it’s almost impossible to breathe!
Ok now think of the person you love most in the world. Or think of someone who you know loves you more than you deserve. If you can’t do either of those, think of someone who REALLY knows how to love another person. It’s incredible isn’t it? I’ve seen a few of those people, and when I think of the extent to which they love another person, it makes me want to cry.
Now…think about being in love (or a sappy love movie about two people in love). It’s not a lie when people say that love makes a person glow. Being loved and loving back is such a special thing that it literally radiates from your face.
And just…imagine both of those two things time a million.
You can pick a smaller number if it’s easier.
You know how people freak out about saying “I love you” to someone else? Why?
Why can we say I love you to our friends, but skirt around the issue when it’s someone we really like and reeaallyy care about?
Love is unconditional. In any occasion. Love doesn’t come in different flavors for different situations. When you tell someone you love them, you should be telling them that “Hey, I care about you more than you think. I would give anything I could to make you happy. In fact, I care about your happiness more than I do my own. AND I’ll choose to love you no matter how much you piss me off.”
That’s the kind of love we have for family and friends. The love we have for our significant others is based on the same foundation. It’s basically saying the EXACT same thing but also “Hey, I’m actually very attracted to you too and I like sharing things with you that I might not share with everyone else”.
So it shouldn’t be such a big deal to tell someone you love them.
Next, ever think about God’s love? If you thought the previously mentioned love was cool, try thinking about HIS love.
Ever seen The Mummy Returns? There is this one scene where the husband and wife are innocently digging for archaeological ruins in a large cavern type thing. And then all of a sudden (well, not really, there is an actual reason), this big wave of water bursts through the wall and envelops them. That’s what I think of when I think of God’s love. It’s enormous and it feels unending and it’s impossible to run away from. It bears down on you with such a weight that it’s almost impossible to breathe!
Ok now think of the person you love most in the world. Or think of someone who you know loves you more than you deserve. If you can’t do either of those, think of someone who REALLY knows how to love another person. It’s incredible isn’t it? I’ve seen a few of those people, and when I think of the extent to which they love another person, it makes me want to cry.
Now…think about being in love (or a sappy love movie about two people in love). It’s not a lie when people say that love makes a person glow. Being loved and loving back is such a special thing that it literally radiates from your face.
And just…imagine both of those two things time a million.
You can pick a smaller number if it’s easier.
I agree to some extent. The problem with saying "I love you" in romantic situations is that it's a loaded statement. It's loaded with possibility, it's loaded with decisions, it's loaded with the next steps in life. It too is loaded with what we know of the word love, what our experience with those words has been (better or worse). The reason why this is a problem is because we have no way (in our language) of differentiating the ways that we love. Biblically there are three different words for love in both hebrew and greek. Most languages have different levels of affection in their language, we basically have two. Like and love. Which are much harder to extrapolate on in the ways that we are traditionally taught how to show love and affection. I'd also like to comment on the fact that love is unconditional, I'd like to believe that it is, however with the way that people are (so impulsive, so unknowing of themselves) there is a HUGE gap in the way that people use words like that. For example, I personally know people who say "I love you" just because they've been a relationship long enough and they feel like that's the right step to take, whether they feel it or not. True love is unconditional, I agree, but in our world, in our lives how do we know what is true and what isn't. I'm also not trying to say that there is no true love out there, but most people are neither prepared to love fully (because they cannot even find joy on their own and/or have been hurt deeply by someone that was supposed to love them unconditionally) nor are they prepared to make the commitment to a feeling like that. Being able to change your mind easily about something so tantamount as love seems easier than holding true to your word. I feel as though this is a discourse that could continue on and on, but one thing is for sure. Love is good, any kind of love, and God's love is immeasurable. So there's that. :]
ReplyDeleteRight. I can count on one hand the amount of people I know who exhibit what I believe to be true love. People have turned what should be unconditional into a feeling and a certain set of expectations.
ReplyDeleteIn saying that, I'm agreeing that you can't just whip out "I love you" whenever you feel like it, because of the way in which that loaded phrase is interpreted in our society. But when I choose to love someone, I will choose to follow it up with actions, regardless of what others might do with it. If, then, I tell someone I love them, I plan on them knowing my feeligs about the topic.
I guess then the main message I'm trying to get across is that true love is unconditional, and we should start seeing it that way.