Hello Friends!

Now I am sure that I am not the only person in the world with this question. What IS LOVE? Is it the butterflies and sparks we see in movies? Is it when a guy notices you? Is it what society tell us it is in the world today? Or is it something more, like a choice everyday? Let’s find out together.

According to my good friend Merriam Webster, love is “(1) : strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties (2) : attraction based on sexual desire : affection and tenderness felt by lovers (3) : a) affection based on admiration, benevolence, or common interests b : an assurance of affection love."

Hmmmm so we are still at square one. Let’s dig deeper. Let’s explore amazing relationships involving love. Do you think a good source would be the Bible? I do. :)

An amazing verse about love in the Bible is 1 Corinthians 13: 4-7, which says, “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”

WOW HOW POWERFUL!! I don’t know about you, but I get tingles reading this verse and thinking of my future husband being like this. Imagine marrying someone who possesses all these qualities. Even better…imagine being the person who possesses these qualities! Pray about it, live it and make it happen!

I think it is fascinating to learn about love and learn the roots of love. In our society today, people think love is a feeling that will never fade. They are wrong in believing this because the feeling will fade, and you will have to choose to continue to love this person! In the world today, people strive to find their future husbands, but do you see the flaw in my previous sentence? We shouldn’t be looking to “find” our future husbands, we should let it happen naturally and pray for them every day.

Praying for your future husband or wife, everyday will save your marriage. Isn’t it cool how you can save your marriage before you even meet the person? Mind blown, wow. Let’s think about this for a minute, shall we? If you pray every single day for your future husband or wife, you are helping them make good decisions, avoid temptation, have strength and you are already loving them before you even meet them. If you do all of this before you even meet, then just imagine how powerful your love would be after you meet! Bonus: imagine how someone could not love you if you told them you have been praying for them for the last six years? I think my heart would explode. I don’t know about you, but I would marry them haha.

Another cool thing to do while you happily wait for your future spouse is to write them love letters! Yes, you read that correctly. Write the person you have never met before love letters. I promise I am not crazy, and it is possible! If you write the letters and just pour your heart out, then God will totally guide you! Plus, if you thought the person would love you when you prayed for them every day, just imagine how MUCH MORE in love they would be if you prayed and wrote love letters to them. This is something that sounds like a chick flick, so you are welcome for making you the next star of your own version of "The Notebook."

Back on the love topic.

I believe that love is a choice, made by couples every day to keep loving the person no matter what.

Love is giving in to a fight, being selfless, being vulnerable, looking beyond the flaws and seeing the raw human beneath the surface. It is seeing all the crap and baggage and still choosing to love them no matter what. Love is envisioning your future kids to be just like the man or woman whom you love. Love is powerful. Love changes the world if you let it.

We are so scared to love because of our previous relationships, baggage, our own feeling of not being good enough or any reason really. All of these things prevent us from truly loving people and it is hard to overcome them. But I believe in us, let’s do it!

The Bible verse of 1 John 4:18, says “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love." Wow, what a powerful verse to read. “There is no fear in love." Isn’t that a game changer for your mind?

Today, we are so afraid to love because of the dating world we live in. We live in a world where the idea of human interaction is texting and watching Netflix. Thanks, but no thanks. We think it is OK to text the person we like and only communicate over the phone, even when the person is in the same room as you. This is not a relationship. We live in a world where commenting on social media pictures has taken priority over intelligent conversations and actually learning about the other person. This is not the case and not love.

Love is striving to learn more every day about the other person and always choosing them. And when I say “choose them,” I do not mean in a possessive, clingy way, I mean in a beautiful, loving way. Love is talking to them, telling them good morning, loving them and making them feel wanted, helping them get to Heaven, helping them overcome fears and temptations, helping them grow in their faith life and helping them grow and become amazing people. Love should make you a better person and help you grow. Love should not make you run the other way, it should make you introduce the person to your family and being excited about it.

I hope this article helped you; I enjoyed writing it!

Love Your Friend,

Lexi Barry:)