Three things will last forever--faith, hope, and love--and the greatest of these is love.
Those of you who know me, know that I love, love! I mean, who doesn't right? I love to give love, receive love, see others in love, see others expressing love, the list goes on and on... So it's only fitting that I talk about love in the week of, well...Love.
I couldn't imagine a life without love, it's that important to me. You could have everything in the whole world but if you don't love, you have nothing. Pretty straight forward statement huh? Well I didn't make it up I just simplified it. It also came from the bible, here's the passage in full:
Love Is the Greatest
1If I could
speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would
only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I had the
gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed
all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t
love others, I would be nothing. 3If I gave
everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about
it;a but if
I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.
4Love is patient
and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5or rude. It
does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of
being wronged. 6It does not
rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7Love never
gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every
circumstance.
8Prophecy and
speaking in unknown languagesb and special knowledge will become useless.
But love will last forever! 9Now our
knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only
part of the whole picture! 10But when the
time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless.
11When I was a
child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put
away childish things. 12Now we see
things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see
everything with perfect clarity.c All that I know now is partial and
incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me
completely.
13Three things
will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.
You probably have heard parts of this passage at weddings, it's popular to put in vows. We used it in our wedding. How could you not "love" it. The neat thing about love is that you can love in so many different ways but everyone of us loves someone and/or something. I personally have so much love in my heart, I could burst thinking about it all. Their is seriously not a day that goes by that I do not take the opportunity to say, "I love you" to my family and along with that I always follow it up with a kiss or two or five. I probably say it multiple times a day and I love hearing it in return. I usually end phone conversations with my husband, kids, parents, sister, nephews, brother-in-law, mother-in-law, extended family and some friends with, "I love you" and I 100% mean it if I say it!
If you look at verses 4-7, it tells you the ways to love and I vowed to do every single one of them, however, I probably have fallen short at times. I am forever working on patience because they get tried daily, usually by my children. Ahh, but they are children so it's my job to teach about love by being the example. Not easy sometimes, it's a work in progress. Another one that I've fallen short on is verse 5 "It does not demand it's own way" I know their are times that I expect someone to act a certain way or say a certain thing and when it doesn't happen the way I want it to or thought it would, I am disappointed. This happens a lot in this age of emails and texts, it's so hard to tell a person's tone and because of that, things get misunderstood. What usually works for me is to talk about it with someone, who then makes me see it a different way and then what I was upset about usually looks pretty silly. Sometimes even writing it down and reading it back helps me see that I am usually overreacting. I've probably been jealous a time or two as well, hey it happens. I guess I could find fault with myself on each one of them.
Here are some fun facts on Love:
- Historically, sweat has been an active ingredient in perfume and love potions.g
- Engagement rings are often worn on the fourth finger of the left hand because the ancient Greeks maintained that that finger contains the vena amoris, or the “vein of love,” that runs straight to the heart. The first recorded wedding rings appear in ancient Egypt, with the circle representing eternity as well as powerful sun and moon deities.l
- Roses are a traditional symbol of love and, depending on their color, can suggest different nuances of love.n For example, red roses indicate passion and true love. Light pink suggests desire, passion, and energy; dark pink suggests gratitude. Yellow roses can mean friendship or jealousy. A lavender or thornless rose can mean love at first sight. White roses mean virtue or devotion. Some roses even combine colors to created more complicated meanings.k
- Since ancient Greece, the apple has been a symbol of love. The Celts believed that the apple represented love because it lasted so long after being picked.n
- A four-leaf clover is often considered good luck, but it is also part of an Irish love ritual. In some parts of Ireland, if a woman eats a four-leaf clover while thinking about a man, supposedly he will fall in love with her.n
- The maple leaf is a symbol of love in China and Japan—and in North America, it was often engraved on beds of early settlers to promote peaceful sleep and pleasure.n
- Many cultures use knots as symbols of an eternal love that has neither a beginning nor an end. Young Muslim women would send love messages to their lovers using intricate knots.n
- The herbs associated with Venus (marjoram, meadowsweet, mint, thyme, and violet) are said to be love inducing when mixed with those herbs sacred to Mars (basil and broom). Spreading them on the floor or scenting the bridal sheets with them supposedly evokes feelings of love.n
- People are more likely to tilt their heads to the right when kissing instead of the left (65 percent of people go to the right!).
- The oldest known love song was written 4,000 years ago and comes from an area between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.
- Men who kiss their wives in the morning live five years longer than those who don’t.
I could talk about love all day but I'll spare you my sappiness. Just tell someone you love them, don't miss the chance, you may never get it back!
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