I’m sure if we continued, we could go on and on about Love because of its nature. But I will like to round up what we started, so we can move on to other things.
My desire is that after we’re through here we can say “I Love You” with a proper understanding of what we say. Remember the Scriptures say “By Understanding a house is established”. Everyone needs to act with understanding, it’s the greatest key to life.
Everyday I get to experience the different sides to love. I have found that Love grows when it is nourished properly. For love to grow some basic nutrients like Patience, Forgiveness, Appreciation, Faithfulness, Honesty, Care, Understanding, Trust and even more, needs to be continuously added. For a relationship to grow in love, these things need to abound. For love to grow, appreciation of one another even as weaknesses begin to show is very important. I have found that the closer a couple get, the more they see each other’s weakness and the more they see this, there is a need to pause and remember the goodies of the relationship. Appreciate your partner for the good person he or she is despite the many weaknesses you see and try to speak the truth in love about the other short comings you see.
Forgiveness after every argument is very important. Every argument is like a time of breaking bottles/glass and you know what happens with bottles. When you don’t clean properly, you find little bits of the pieces here and there causing harm later. To build a successful Love relationship that will go to the next level, you need to forgive and forgive and forgive. Take care of your hurts, and don’t hold grudges. Whenever you find the next piece of bottle, sweep it off like the rest, don’t allow it to cause any havoc.
Everyone needs and desires to be cared for. There’s that person in everyone that calls for attention. Most of us seek this care in our love relationship. It gets really disappointing when we don’t find it and when we find it we call it Heaven.
Honesty is very important to sustain a love in relationship, when a party begins to doubt the other person, a break down is almost inevitable. There must be absolute trust. This solves a lot of problems before they arise. It helps love to believe all things.
Faithfulness is also very key in a love relationship. Both parties need to be committed to the relationship. Never give room for distractions. I have found out that distraction come the minute you decide to settle in a relationship. Then all the Romeos and Juliets surface, just when you decided to start your relationship. Your commitment and integrity will be your stay in days like this. You need to get to understand its not just about how you feel alone. It’s also about the sense in how you feel and how right is what you feel. Love is not just a heart thing but a head thing.
Trust comes when the other partner sees day by day your honesty andfaithfulness.
Trust is earned when you don’t leave your partner in the dark. In love you should be an open book.
You need to display Understanding of your partner especially in the way you react at the display of his or her weakness. You need to cover up for one another and make up for each other’s deficiencies. Remember the story of Abigail how she rose up to clear her husband’s mess (I Samuel 25:14-37) and also Zipporah Moses’ wife when God was about to strike against them (Exodus 4:24-25).
You can never have enough patience, each day you need to increase in patience. Patience is a precious virtue you can’t have too much of. Bible says “For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise …” (Heb 10:35). Even after you have done all that God requires of you in a relationship, the effect or result is not automatic. You need to patiently wait to see the change in your partner while prayerfully doing what is right.
Finally, Love is not all soft; there is a tough side to it. Love must be firm too! Sometimes in a Love relationship you need to make some decisions that might seem harsh or even difficult in order to correct a wrong that has been done. You need to understand that as much as Love believes all things and forgives all things, you must be wise and check out the fact. It doesn’t make you gullible.
Always pray that God will teach you each day to Love more. Let us love people around us. Make love a lifestyle. You will find that it will make you a better person.
Some Quotes on Love
Real love is a permanently self-enlarging experience.
- Scott Peck, O Magazine, February 2004
The first duty of love is to listen.
Paul Tillich (1886 – 1965), O Magazine
– lola ezeifeoma
