LOVE; MORE THAN A VIRTUE

Virtue is a good or admirable quality. It is a rare quality possessed by only a few. It distinguishes
people thus making possessors of these virtues of high worth, value and praise.
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Virtues can be
gotten by training, exposure, experience, discipline and education. Common examples include
patience, kindness, temperance, perseverance, giving, meekness, transparency, trust, chastity, loyalty and the likes.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. (1 Cor 13:13NIV)

Love is in itself a higher class because when carefully examined, every other nice quality or virtue stems from it. To
discover the multi-dimensional properties of love is light; one of which being that it transcends time eternal. Apostle Paul in the above verse categorically distinguished love as the grandest of all
that remains. We must therefore pay a closer view to what it entails.

WHAT LOVE IS NOT

It has been established that
love is not selfish, sentimental or sensual. Eros (love between man and woman), storge (family love) and phileo (mutual love, friendship) are physical and will fade away with time because they must be complemented in order to be sustained.

God however, didn’t instruct us to 'eros', 'storge' or 'phileo' people; rather we are instructed to 'agape' (God kind of love) others.

Interestingly, it is only when agape is present as the foundation that's when storge, phileo and eros can find full expression.When one purely operates in one or more of the initial three kinds of love with out the main source of love, agape; one becomes either selfish (self-seeking), sentimental (biased) or sensual (lustful). However, the best perspective to view love is through the ‘agape lens’ – pure, principled and perfect.

WHAT IS LOVE

Love just like any other virtue is identified by its fruits. Love is sensitive, sacrificial and scriptural (spiritual). It is sensitive in that it is able to sense upcoming danger. Love is thoughtful and sympathetic. If your lover doesn’t feel your pain and share in your joy, you are not meant for him/her.

Jesus being our perfect model of love is himself touched with the feelings of our infirmities (Heb 4:15). Love is also sacrificial. Love gives and isn't tired of giving. Lovers give the best of their possession,valuables and time as a sign to their commitment to the relationship. Solomon loved God (1 Kings 3:3-4) and he largely sacrificed a thousand burnt offerings to the Lord his God.
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You must be challenged to cheerfully give to those you claim you love.If you do not have the willingness to give, then it's either love then or you are working outside Agape. Love is also scriptural (John 13:34-
35, Mat 22:37-40). The Agape love which the Holy Ghost sheds abroad in our heart (Rom 5:5) is timeless, truthful and practical.

GROW YOUR LOVE

I once heard a wife tell these lines to her husband “Love is life; you feed it, you nourish it, you cherish it; when you don’t do
these three things, it gets malnourished. When you kill it, it dies”. In effect, she was telling her husband that love is like a flower. You must do the needful to keep it and make it bloom; otherwise it will wither and die away.

Jesus was the greatest expression of love that ever came into the world, but it was never recorded that he ever said the words, "I love you!" Why? This is because 95 percent of real love is non-verbal but filled with verbs. Jesus did not love with just words but in deed and truth (1 Jn. 3:18). He loved with actions.

If your actions contradict your words,
what are people going to believe, your words or your actions? Your actions of course! Vine's Expository Dictionary states, "Love can be known only from the actions it prompts".

The foundation, building and finishing of love are key. When fully known, appreciated and applied; your love life will grow and blossom. If you take a sample of happy marriages, they will tell you it is so because they applied themselves to live upright having agape as their core.

They knew their boundaries during their early life up until now and they never crossed it. I therefore submit to you that the foundation of your love should be righteousness (Isa 54:14a). Learn the Word of God together,
share ideas and let the Word of God remain the standard for your general conduct.

Love can be likened to a building. It grows by the strong interplay of wisdom, knowledge
and understanding (Prov 24:3-4).
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The Proverbs 31 woman being a model for our young ladies and older women can be categorically described as a wise woman. The Scripture describes her as a perfect wife. Wise men lead well. You are also in need of current, accurate and relevant knowledge. You make your relationship colourful with knowledge. It gives your union the glow and life it deserves.

Always be up-to-date with positive news and technologies that can be a blessing to you,. Understanding is also key (Prov 4:7, 1 Pet 3:7 NIV). You must understand your partner and never give room for comparison.

The finishing of love is perseverance.

Christ Jesus is never tired of loving us even when we make mistakes.
You must persevere in it to make it work. Don’t opt out because perfection seems far off; keep at it because the end shall be better of (Ecc 7:8).Selah

Thanks for reading!