on love

Today was a bit of a breakthrough. I read a quote while prowling around thisisnottom.com. The quote read,

"The heart of every person craves what it cannot have. Not universal love. But to be loved alone."

I read this quote and it the chord it hit in me rang so clearly that I had to stop and pay attention. This is not love, love is not selfish, yet sometimes this is what we expect love to be. We want to be the center of the person's love. We want to be the object of their affection and the only thing they can love.

Love comes in different forms, different sizes and has different looks at times, but love cannot only be showered on one thing, then it becomes sick, a disease just waiting to choke the life out of you. You cannot just love one person or one thing.

But then how do we love and love the persons/things in our lives in the way that we should so that it is balanced? Again I am pointed to 1 Corinthians 13

"Love is patient, love is kind. 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. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails."

Well, there you have it. To truly love, to really say that you love others, you have to be all of these things, and when love is shown in this unselfish state, then we will finally understand just how much God loves us.