John Lennon wrote a song called, “All You Need is Love.” But the question is, what is love? What you think is love may not be love at all. Love is more than just a feeling. In fact what we think is love toward someone could very easily be nothing more than lust. You see, in a relationship love has boundaries and it has respect and when you cross over those boundaries, you no longer have respect nor do you have love, but lust. Lust is nothing more than selfishness, which is the opposite of love. There is no freedom in love. Love is a very delicate thing and can easily be broken and shattered and non repairable. You have to handle love with care. You see it does not matter if you give gifts or spend money or even time, what matters is a relationship that respects one another. We think giving to the poor or being on the streets protesting or saying the right words is another form of love, but again our actions may not equal true love for our fellow beings. We may think that if we have justice we have love, this is true if it is real justice, but when we think something is right for someone, it may not be right. If we give people everything they want, this is not love. We can not take away from a person the dignity that comes from working and the result of seeing the fruit of one’s labor. Humans, from the beginning of time, worked and created, and were productive beings, taking part in this world to do good and not evil. Giving someone a helping hand is one thing, but taking away his incentive to be a productive human being is another. Allowing lawlessness is not love, it is stealing. Stealing, which we now say is right, no it is not right at all, because one person has worked hard to get where they are in life, while the other person takes it away. This is not love, and this is not right. Love does not take from one and give to another, because the one that is being taken from, is also a person who you must love. It is up to that person to give out of love, and that is not your decision. Here are a few things that God considers true love. Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous, it does not brag, and it is not proud. Love is not rude, it is not selfish, and it cannot be made angry easily. Love does not remember wrongs done against it. Love is never happy when others do wrong, but it is always happy with the truth. Love never gives up on people. It never stops trusting, never loses hope, and never quits. In fact, there is no greater love than one who lays down his life for another. Love is not simple. It is not a matter of fact. Love must be something you consider when you encounter any person, what you say or how you act must all be done in love or else you are a hypocrite, a fake, and nothing more than a self-centered, selfish person. Love is the true test for everyone to use to measure who they really are. Today take a good look in the mirror and ask yourself, “Do I love or is it just lust? Do I give or do I simply take?
