Friday, February 17, 2012

Love is... Part 10

Photo Credit: cute-pictures.blogspot



Love is... Always protecting, trusting, hoping, and preserving. 




So, we recently got through Valentines Day, the day that people either think is wonderful or horrible. I don't really agree with the way love is put forward for this, where men are required to give expensive gifts to women to prove that they care for them. Yet, it is a great time to reflect on the true nature of pure love. I focused on dwelling on God's love, it's eternal, unselfish, and unblemished. There's one more part of the Love series after this one, so let's make this a good one! 




Someone who "always protects, always trusts, always hopes, (and) always preserves" sounds like the ideal person! This is the love of God, this is the love that Christ showed us, and this is the love that the Holy Spirit empowers us to be able to show to others. "Agape" is the love in which the one giving it has no conditions and no expectations from loving the other person. This is the word used in Greek when describing God's love. It is pure, not sexual or romantic, and is simply caring for someone, no matter what they do or don't do. This is the love you show to your Enemies, and everyone else, not expecting them to love you back but loving them anyways. It's because of God's Agape that we are able to love Him.
"We love, because He first loved us." (1 John 4:19)


Let's try to just go through each part of this section, one by one. 




"Always Protects


To "Always protect" reminds me of a service man or a knight. The Police, EMTs, and Fire Men are there to protect the general public. They put others lives before their own and work hard to keep us safe and alive. They stand by, waiting for us to call on them. They are pretty much the closest thing we have to a superhero, but instead of a "Bat Signal" we call 911. I realize that they are not perfect, we all make mistakes, but they are people who live the life of "Always protect". 
The other thing I think of is a Knight, like the ones from our Childhood books. They fought monsters, fire breathing dragons, and rescued the town and the princess. In the books for the older audience they will probably die fighting. While the people mourn and honor them, they do not care that they died if it was to save another, and the only regret is that they are no longer alive to protect them. Knights of our dream land are "chivalrous", and little boys want to be like them!


At least, they used to. Being blunt here, but this is not a value that we are taught anymore. To open doors, ward off bad guys, and come to the rescue of women is not as important. Little boys like the guns and swords, but a lot of them think that the bad guy is cool! Most start watching MTV at a young age and want to be the "Player' when they grow up. These are the people who wound those around them, emotionally and physically. Men were created stronger to protect women, yet this is being lost. Now, women can also be noble and protect! They protect family and friends. I think that getting the value of protecting others at any cost needs to come back into the trends. 


"Regular" people don't die in battle and fight fires to protect, and this applies to those who do as well. We protect the feelings of others, their emotions. To love and protect people can be interfering when someone is being bullied. When you see someone being hurt, or who is potentially going to get hurt, you jump in and help them and protect them. In "modern times" we are able to do this more than we know. So, let's take a stand and protect those around us. 




"Always Trusts"


This one sounds very difficult to me, and probably to most people. To always trust? God, don't you know how much I have been hurt? How can I possibly trust people? To trust a person is extremely difficult for those of us who has been "burned" in the past. Example? One of the first times I did a "trust fall" they thought it would be funny to drop me on purpose...Onto the hard, rocky ground. I don't like trust falls anymore. But I had to do one recently with my roommates, and although it was hard it taught me a lesson. 


They caught me. Despite what happen years ago, they still caught me. Because we loved each other, and we did not want to see one another fall. To really love a person you need to trust them. Being suspicious, judgmental, or just thinking that they will let you down and have some sort of fault, drives a wedge in any relationship. It's a delicate balance, I think, because you both need to trust people, but do not rely on them to be perfect for you. Knowing a person has faults, and also not distrusting them for those faults. You love through mistakes and know we all make them, but still trust them. 


I know this may all sound confusing, but it's hard to put feelings into words. You also need to be a trustworthy person yourself, someone who is not back-stabbing, or sneaky, or that hides things from people. Trust and be trustable. 




"Always Hopes"


To always hope, in my opinion, is to see the light in every situation. It''s the opposite of despair. You are hopeful for the future, you have hope that things will get better in the most dire of times, and you hope the best for others as well. Love is about showing it to others, but it is also something internal. You always trust people and you always have hope. To be a hopeful, uplifting person draws people to you. Being an optimist makes people around you positive as well. 


When a person is in despair and you can give them hope, that is showing love to them. You make them see that things will get better, you tell them you are praying for them and hope for the best, and you want things to go in their best interests. And, to have hope, you trust God and love Him and believe in the love He has for you. 




"Always Preserves"


We preserve rain forests, trees, animal life, and human lives. We protect them so that we can preserve them. It's keeping something safe so that it is able to grow. Like a nursery for plants, or children for that matter! It is a safe place where they can mature. We should be a safe place that people can go to when they need to heal and can stay when they are tender and growing. This is more of a Maternal or Paternal instinct, when your parents want to keep you safe for your own good so that you can become a responsible and stable adult. 


God, as our Father, shows this aspect, as well as all of them of course. He wants to nurture us and help us grow. We should be this way towards others. Protecting them from harm, and helping them grow. It's shows love and value for a person when you care for their well being and development. 




I think that these are very important for love, and we all have our own definition for the words. This is my opinion on what these mean, and I hope that it can get your mind going on what you think of these. Just remember that God has all of these traits, in their perfect, pure forms, and so does Christ and the Holy Spirit. And every time that The Bible says to love another person, it means all of these things. Love is a deep feeling, and I am excited to be able to wrap this up with next times final word on Love.


For now, let's dwell on these and continue to grow in Agape.  


Refining the Faith, 
-C.A.M.

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