Love is Patient - Love is Kind

With today being Valentines Day, I thought I’d try bring a whole new perspective on Love. We all know the beautiful piece in the Bible that tells us what love is. Just as a reminder here it is :

“Love is patient, love is kind” (1 Corinthians 13:4–8a) It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.”

Don’t you just love it?! No pun intended.

For me, this piece really sums up what love aught to be. We see so many movies that depict true love as something that is fraught with hurt, anguish and depression. One only needs to look at movies like The Hunger Games and Vampire Diaries to see what I mean. I do have to admit that I’ve never watched any of these movies, and certainly never will. But the general gist is not hard to get. 50 Shades of Grey! What a load of rubbish! And yes, I did watch it, to see what all the hype was all about. I’m not sure about you, but I certainly don’t equate love to what was portrayed in that movie.

Sadly it’s our younger folk who get caught up in this nonsense and are so easily led to see love in a very different light. The interpretation that love is patient and kind, doesn’t envy, doesn’t boast and is not proud, neither rude or self-seeking, is just so perfect. Most certainly love is not easily angered and keeps no record of wrongs. And many of us would do well to remember this.

Once again society has linked into a day called Valentines Day to boost ourselves from a commercial perspective. How many of you feel guilty because you haven’t done anything special for your loved one on this day or haven’t planned something special or from the other perspective, expect your loved one to do something for you and feel very disappointed when they don’t?

Making Love our priority is surely a must – I feel a little like I’m repeating myself, but can lay claim to old age taking it’s toll. Seriously though, February is the month that we dedicate to love and for just that alone, while I don’t buy into the commercial aspect, I do buy into having time set aside to jolt our memories back to a space that we should all be operating from every day, and not for just one month.

It really is all about love. Loving ourselves for exactly who we are, with all the bumps and boils, the flaws, the bad hair days, the wrong decisions, the bad choices etc etc. And for all the great decisions, those that have taken us into amazing spaces and have led us to meet the most amazing people. For all the amazing things that we have done and achieved in our life, but just fail to recognise.

And then of course, from there, spreading that love out into our families, friends, neighbours, colleagues and strangers. Those people with whom we share our lives intimately and those with whom we share only snippets of our lives. Those with whom we come into contact only once. Remember that whatever you do or say or how you act, has an impact on others and for that reason, we need to remember to place love at the top of our list. At the top of every action and interaction. At the top of every thought and every deed. At the top of absolutely everything that we do, both for ourselves and for others.

Don’t wait until you have to be reminded to show someone that you care. Stop today and buy that bunch of roses for your wife, your mother or your daughter. Give that extra hug to your grandchild and tell your dad you love him, even if he’s not a touchy feely kind of guy. Spread love wherever you go – you just know that it will come back to you tenfold.

I wish you all a superb Valentines Day filled with Love and Happiness.