Relationships Part 1

As promised, I'm back again with another post on a topic that is so close to my heart - relationships. The things I have to say are not new concepts. You'll find no instant fix or magic potion here. Just some ideas that are really back to basics. It seems to me that the first thing I should write about is "What is Love?" I'll branch out from there.

Looking up "love" on dictionary.com and scanning through the definitions, the one that popped out at me was under noun: "the affectionate concern for the well-being of others."

Going further, I looked up the word Love on wikipedia.org to see what had been posted there. "In philosophical context, love is a virtue representing all of human kindness, compassion and affection."

On a higher authority, the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 13 (The Message version)
"Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.
Love doesn't strut,
Doesn't have a swelled head,
Doesn't force itself on others,
Isn't always "me first,"
Doesn't fly off the handle,
Doesn't keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn't revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.
Love never dies."

There are other definitions out there of "love"... but this love is what our relationships should be based on. Whether your relationship is between you and a friend, a spouse, a child, a partner.... Love is, simply put, an action. I've learned this over the years, sometimes from tough lessons. I think I'll let the definitions sink in a bit and hope you'll read them over more than once.

More tomorrow! Thanks for reading! ~ Dawnee