I recently took a look back to try and determine if I’ve ever loved. I think the best answer I can come up with is yes-but only partly. Furthermore, I am now confident that I have never been fully loved by anyone else either.
Perhaps you’re thinking-how can you speak for someone else to determine their love for you? And my response is, I’m not speaking for anyone but rather measuring my experiences with the word of God concerning what love is:
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. (NIV)8 Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages[a] and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! (NLT)-(1 Corinthians 13:4-8)
If I’m honest with myself, I’ll admit that it’s only been in the last few years of my life that I have allowed God’s word concerning love to be my gauge. And while I know we are not perfect and will never be perfect until Christ returns, I can’t help but wonder who’s made it their goal in their love relationships to attempt to reach the fullest potential of the passage listed above?
Scripture says we perish for the lack of knowledge. (Hosea 4:6). And heading into my future I’m totally excited about the knowledge and determination I have gained to have a love relationship that glorifies God. From the first date I’ll be open but I’ll be measuring recognizing that there is an insane expectation to get something later in the relationship that never existed from the beginning.
What are you using to measure your love towards someone and their love reciprocated to you? I hope it’s not the length of their hair (or any body part for that matter), the depth of their pockets, the height of their career or width of their titles and accolades but rather the length, depth, height and width of God’s love toward us and the clear cut definition He gives us of what love is. This is the true measure of love.