It’s hard to believe that it’s already February and that Valentine’s Day is upon us. Over the next several days, we are going to take a look at what True Love is and how we can fortify the love that we share within our Inner Circle, which would include our own family, and friends. We will also talk about our Outer Circle, which would include everyone else. Because love is not just for those that we are close to, but love is for all people, everywhere.
Let’s start with a quick look at the difference between infatuation and True Love.
The deceptive love of infatuation
**And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her.** Genesis 29:20
**And the king loved Esther above all the women, and she obtained grace and favour in his sight** Esther 2:17
According to Google,the definition of infatuation is an intense but short-lived passion or admiration for someone or something. The key word here is short-lived. We get attracted to someone’s looks, or their physique, their laugh, or their philosophy. We “fall in love” due to some common ground we discover with them, perhaps from our culture or shared common backgrounds.
As the definition states, infatuation is not long-lasting. The quality or qualities that catch our immediate attention lead us into an emotional response that has no depth. Depending on our age and our experience with relationships, this emotional response can last an hour or a day, a week or even months. But sooner or later, we begin to see other characteristics in that person that begin to take the Stars from our eyes and the deception from our hearts. Ultimately, that’s what infatuation is, it is deceptive love. We are attracted to a minor characteristic that offers no lasting growth for the relationship. The more we get to know that person, we realize that their appearance or their interesting philosophy is all that they have to offer.
True Love matures, grows, finds common interests, responds with love and patience when hurt, forgives, looks for the best in others and sacrifices for the good of others.
Throughout this series, we will see many characteristics that are the building blocks of True Love. These building blocks can give us a clear blueprint in our search for True Love or they can strengthen the love that we already have with those closest to us. I hope you’ll join me and also share your thoughts on each characteristic of True Love so that each of us can continue to learn and grow, and flourish in our relationships with those that we care most about.