I did not enjoy the sound of my alarm at 4:00 am Wednesday morning. A couple of other factors made waking up even harder. I caught a cold a few days before and had sinus congestion. I somehow sprained my neck at the gym and it was still sore.
I did get up, despite not feeling I was at 100% strength. Why? Love is the reason.
No, I didn’t have an early morning breakfast date with a beautiful woman. I did give my word that I would meet a friend and leave with him at 5:00 am. I had a seminar scheduled for a group of about 70 students from One Body in Christ Ministries (a church in Manila). I rode with them to the Subic Bay area in Bataan. Love for God and love for those students compelled me to keep my word.
My physical discomfort was not really such a big deal. The experience, however, did remind me of an important truth: love is not just a feeling.
When we talk or sing about love, we usually start telling people how we feel (or how that “special someone” makes us feel). Some even do immoral things (like pre-marital sex or having an extra-marital affair) and say “I was in love, I couldn’t help myself.”
Of course love affects our emotions, but true love is much more than just the way we feel. In fact, true love will cause us to do things we don’t feel like doing. True love will cause us to do the right thing, even when it is not easy (1st Corinthians 13:6)
We are now in a season (holy week) in which we ponder the suffering of Jesus. Consider His prayer the nigh before He was crucified:
“Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”
–Luke 22:42
Why would Jesus pray for the “cup of suffering” to be removed? He was a sane human being. Just like the rest of us, He had a natural desire for comfort and self-preservation. No sane, healthy person wants his/her life to end—especially not by crucifixion.
Despite His normal desire to live, Jesus willingly surrendered Himself to death on a cross. Why? He did this because of His love for us. We can develop a more mature understanding of love by remembering Jesus’ sacrifice for us.
This is one of the many articles that you’ll find in my book: Basta Lovelife: Making Wise Relationship Decisions.
Beautifully written. This is a very divine realization about what love is.
i totally agree…
nice blog…
Thanks for reading!
i agree, love is definitely not a feeling! 🙂 thanks for writing your devotional insights in your blog. keep it up 🙂
you are right love is not a feeling.thanks for your blog it was a real blessing.God bless you in a very special way
i absolutely agree…
more power to your blog.
i now understand that love is really not a feeling no wi knw how to react about things in my life that i am experiencing
well, i just drop by your title”LOVE is not a feeling” well i totally agree about that specially in today’s genre about the misconceptions of love..that many teens engage in lust in search for true love..great job!!
..nice blog!!..i hope many teens nowadays could read bout this kind of topic
Yes, i agree with you. Very well written. Thanks for sharing this article!
-margie-
http://www.friendster.com/8790000
I absolutely agree with you Kevin…. The perfect definition of LOVE is GOD’s love for us…..
Right. God is love. it’s not about us. it’s doing & continuing the work of its author & source. i pray all of us called to pastor His flock would hold on to this truth.
wonderful article..i agree to that! keep it up.thanks!
let me introduce myself first.my name’s rani.we met when you handled a seminar at STI recto way back 2005 or 2006 i think.
kuya kevin.. this blog made me think again what really love is.
i stopped attending school because of love.. i worked in a call center tryin to save money so i could go to that girl who was a plane ticket away from me..
but after i quit working (march2007) to go to her, i found out she already left goin to US..
all my sacrifices were useless..
i sacrificed my future, a year of school just for her, and to prove that i love her so much yet she didnt care about me.
the only thing that was left to me were my prayers.. my prayers for her to love me..
maybe god didnt allow me to see her cause it was for the best..
sometimes god does things we really dont understand..
but i trust him..
cause as you have said to that seminar..
god just wants the best.. thanks
Sorry to hear about that. Hope you’ll get back to school soon.
stumbled upon your blog while searching something in google 🙂 your blog is a blessing 🙂