Love Defined

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Love does not demand it's own way. Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged. It is never glad about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful and endures through every circumstance. I Corinthians 13:4-7.

When we meet someone we are attracted to for the first time, we have certain feelings. These feelings are, but not limited to, being happy and upbeat, lack of sleep, loss of appetite, butterflies in the stomach, constantly thinking of the other person. This is just infatuation. Infatuation is the beginning of love, but has not yet developed into true love. It would take more than these initial feelings to truly love somebody.

True love, Is it Enough for a Lasting Marriage?

How would you know when you love someone? When you two are compatible. Simply put, you have to become friends. Compatibility is the key ingredient to a lasting marriage. When the initial "euphoria" dies, it is the friendship and respect for each other that keeps you together. If you cannot get along, and there's no respect, then there's no relationship.

Unfortunately for most, when the early feelings have died, and challenges crop up in the relationship, they believe that the 'love' has died and it's time to go their separate ways. But it's not the initial feelings that determine love, it's the friendship and commitment you've developed along the way that matters. Once that has been established then the definition of love described above is made easy.