Monday, January 31, 2011

What Does Love Mean to You?

Last week’s post about love conquering all brought up some interesting points. Especially because everyone has such a different way of looking at things. While all the points were valid, some of the more negative ones made me wonder something.

What does the word love mean to you?

Clearly, everyone defines it differently. Yes? Well. I have to be honest. I hadn’t really considered that. I guess I was thinking about what love means to me. But some of the scenarios that came up in the comment section of last Monday’s post gave me pause to think about what that word means to different people.

For me, love is everything good and decent and kind. It is service personified, unselfishness, comfort. Love is, and will always be the center of happiness. And granted, I’m a sucker. A total romantic. But there are also things I believe love is NOT.

For instance, in my mind, love is NEVER cruel or mean. Never abusive degrading or demeaning. Love does not choose sides, or keep secrets or tell lies. Love doesn’t hit or poke or leave bruises or burns.

People may do those things, but LOVE, itself, does not.

Love is an emotion, a feeling, a conviction even, but it is not human. And as always, everything comes back to us being human and making choices. And so I ask again. Can love, in its purest form, conquer the forces of evil?

In my experience, love wins the battle EVERY TIME. That doesn’t mean the ending is always happy, that the good guy always wins or that the bad guy always loses. What it means is that love is the thing that gives us the strength to push forward and move on.To rebuild.

So, now you know what it means to me, I’d love to know. What does love mean to you?

5 comments:

Rebecca Blevins said...

I guess the first thing that comes to my mind is Jesus Christ's sacrifice for us. He loves us so much he died for us. If you looked at His life from a writer's story perspective, he went through excruciating pain and ultimately died. But, love won, and He overcame death.

I guess that even if bad things happen, I believe love always wins because it is enduring, timeless, and lasts forever.

Very thought-provoking post, Nichole!

Cindy Beck, author said...

Love to me seems to be a mixture of other virtues: loyalty, faith, gratefulness, happiness, forgiveness, kindness, and honesty. Love isn't passive but includes the action of giving.

(Oh ... before I forget ... thanks for stopping by my blog and commenting on "The Recipe." Glad you enjoyed it! :)

Carolyn V. said...

Thank you for saying that Love is not mean or cruel. I watched a clip of a mother with her child yesterday that just upset me. I couldn't figure out how he would feel loved when she was treated him so badly. That is NOT what caring and love is. I just hope that love can be felt there, somehow.

Cranberryfries said...

I liked your definitions!
Love is safety, security, happiness.

Brassy Apple said...

Just found you on twitter and now your blog! :) nice to meet you.

I am starting a new project just for photos. A blog for women to connect through a single photo. This month's theme is love. It will be fun to see how it plays out in a pictures ;)

http://iammorethanjust.blogspot.com/