“Love is a Verb”
“Don’t marry someone you can live with. Marry someone you can’t live without.” I heard that quote recently while watching a documentary on Toby Mac (who rocks, by the way). It really struck me because I see so many people in unhappy relationships. I mean, every relationship has its issues, but some relationships are so bad that it makes me wonder what brought them together in the first place. Even more, I wonder why they stay together.
I work with a lot of very cool teens and hear all their love woes. I feel for them because they are at a place in life where they want to fit in and feel accepted by another of the opposite sex. So much so that they compromise their “selves” to be pleasing and gain the affection they’re looking for. One teen told me her boyfriend gets mad and hits her sometimes. She doesn’t see that as totally wrong. Several girls have boyfriends who call them nasty, and I mean nasty, names. One teen boy’s girlfriend cheated on him on several occasions, and he’s ok with taking her back. Can you see the problem here??
The lack of self-respect is amazing. Unfortunately, that carries over into adulthood sometimes. Wouldn’t it be great if people were taught when they are young that they are valuable and should be treated with care? They are valuable even if the cutest guy or girl in school doesn’t give them a glance. Valuable even if their grades aren’t perfect or they aren’t the best at their sport. Valuable if they are overweight, wear glasses or have bad teeth. Most importantly, they should never settle for anyone who thinks otherwise.
We are valuable because we were created for a purpose. Your Creator thought so. Just read Psalm 139! That purpose is not so you can be someone’s physical or verbal punching bag. The person you choose to spend your life with should honor you and cherish you. They should encourage you to press on when you’re hurt or scared, and comfort you when you’re down. In other words, their love should be more than words. As DC Talk noted in one of their songs “Love is a Verb” yes, an action.
1 Corinthians 13:4 says “Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.” And, before you can find such an amazing love with another person, you must learn to love yourself and know YOU are worthy of love just the way you are.
God thinks so.
