Give Yourself to Love
By Daniel Santiago

We all feel a need to be accepted, and a need for friends.  You have probably realized by now that the reason we want acceptance is to feel as if we are loved.  But I have found that love is very different then what this world has shown it to be.  I am not saying that friendship is wrong because I think friendships are awesome, but what I am trying to say is that the definition of love that the world has shown us is basically just caring.  Care as a noun means attentive assistance or treatment to those in need.  Care as a verb means to have a liking or attachment.  Love is different from this.  You see caring is almost like saying I would do this and I would do that for a person, but love is saying I will do anything for the one that you love.  Love is holding someone else as if they are of greater importance then yourself.  Love is caring unconditionally.  I am talking about a love that you have toward the people around you, a love for your friends and family.  One way to know that you love someone is by asking yourself what you would do for that person.  The ultimate question is would you die for that person?  And if you don't think you would then how can that be real love.  Because isn't that how Christ showed His love?  And if God is love as the Bible says, shouldn't we take what Christ has done for us as an example for how to love?

I don't believe there are different levels in love, so it isn't really possible to say I love this person more than another.  The reason for this goes back to caring.  Remember love is caring unconditionally.  There is only unconditional love.  This has been one of the hardest things for me because I had to realize that when I say that I love someone I am really saying I would do anything for the person.  Love isn't so much of an easy thing to do anymore.  I don't want to lie to people by telling them I love them when in my heart it isn't true.  Yet God calls us to love everyone.  The poor, the sick, the rich, the middle class, the losers, the ones that are closest to you, that person in one of your classes at school that you just want to yell at so much, and everyone in between.  Everyone means everyone. 

Lately I have seen love shown in so many different ways.  I am learning that love isn't just in one form, but can be shown in so many different forms.  C.S. Lewis talks about friendship, affection, Eros, and charity in his book called “The Four Loves”.  Friendship is the kind of love that can be shared with a friend or companion.  Rob Bell describes affection as that sense of desire to be with someone so much that your heart aches.  Eros is Greek for erotic.  I think you get the idea.  If this love is not shared in the right conditions then it can become like a god in someone's life; where the person is addicted to this erotic love, without the foundation of friendship and affection.  This is the kind of love that was meant for marriage.  Charity is to love those that don’t seem to deserve it.  (A lot of this is twisted into my understanding of the loves.)

But in every way true love is shown through sacrifice.  Because that's the way Christ showed us how to love, and as Christians we model Christ and do as He would in every situation.  So don't use the word so lightly next time you are about to say it.   Analyze yourself and see if you really mean it.  I have to do that all the time.  I am still learning so much about love, and I don't think I will ever have love figured out.   But I am contributing to the great discussion.  This is my viewpoint and I am sure you have yours.  Just take what I have to say and think about it.  I don't want to miss the feeling of giving and receiving love.  There is a song by The Gloria Record that puts it in a way that's easy to relate.  It says:

Better feel it while you can love 
Feel it while you can
Give yourself to love, love
Give yourself to love.

If you want to see some scripture on love go read 1 Corinthians 13.  It's all about love.