love defined

1 Jn 4:10 says, "This is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins."

Last January 28, Kuya Alex introduced us to a new topic called "love defined". He emphasized that love is not such a very kind word. Love is very strict. Love entails sacrifices. February has been dubbed as the "love month" for as long as i could remember. This is maybe because of that fated day of the 14th of February. There are moments wherein the young and the young at heart lets their feelings show only on this day. But should this be always? Here, Kuya Alex told us a lot of things and he was able to open our eyes, hearts, and minds as to what love should really be.

WE DON'T DESERVED TO BE LOVED.

WHAAT?!

As a matter of fact, we don't. I mean, look at us, are we really that pure that we deserve to be loved by someone? Everyone has flaws, everyone is imperfect, and for that mere reason, we don't deserve any love. But we are loved, aren't we?

LOVE INITIATES

We are loved because GOD loves us. We are loved because we are created by him not out of sheer lack of any fun but because he loved us. He wasn't even told, he was never told to love anyone, instead, he DECIDED to love us.

Love is a DECISION. We pray for someone like, "God, please send me the right man," or like, "God, i pray for this girl that she'll be mine. If she's not the right one for me, let her be." Isn't that something selfish? Love is not in any way selfish. Love is not about mushy feelings, it's about taking concrete steps to make that love possible.

There was a certain not-so-long-ago time where i had the realization that "praying won't answer all my requests, i should make a move and then pray that everything will just work out well." Incidentally, a week after that thought came up, Kuya Alex, in our weekly LIFE GROUP, opened a topic and it's all about love.

When we love, we should take active steps; these steps should be seen, heard, and felt by the one whom we want to share our love to. Love acts when the feelings are not felt. It's not gonna be everytime that love will be felt. It's not everytime that our hearts continue beating for the love of our lives. And it's not everytime that the words "I LOVE YOU" come from our sincerest feelings. There will come a time that when we see something we disaprove of in our loved ones, we get disappointed and frustrated. That is why love entails sacrifices. We must be able to see through these indifferences and just love that person no matter what. The reason is that it takes a huge effort to love. This will entirely cause our ATM (availability, time, money) to be used.

Love is about giving. It's like doing something good for someone without expecting anything back. Love is not cheap. When we love we should give it our all. Not 50% or 90%, rather, 100%. We don't control our lives and others, we might not expect it but our unselfishness may be the reason for a person to continue to live his life. Love is not focused on our PERSONAL NEEDS but of OTHERS NEEDS.

TRUE LOVE IS NOT ABOUT US, IT'S NOT ABOUT YOU NOR ME, BUT OF OTHERS.

LOVE IS OTHERS-ORIENTED.

LOVE IS SEEKING THE HIGHER GOOD OF ANOTHER.

And again, LOVE IS A DECISION.

Finally, LOVE IS GOD AND GOD IS LOVE.

1 Jn 4:16 says, "God is love. Whoever lives in love loves in God, and God in him."

Dear reader, do you know Jesus? Have you met him? Well, i have. He promised me that i will see him very soon if i continue to love like how he loved me, like how he loved the entire world. He showed us a love that no one, NO ONE, could ever replace. John 15:13 says, "Greater love has no one that this, that he lay down his life for his friends."

My brother, Jesus, is THE epitome of love. And our Father is the true meaning of PERFECT LOVE.

So, just like them both, we should love each and everyone selflessly. Because LOVE INITIATES AN ACTION SACRIFICIALLY FOR OTHERS NEEDS.