“If life gives you lemons, COLOR!” said a young girl as provided in the link below. http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local-beat/8-Year-Old-Girl-Creates-Charity-Lemonade-Franchises-.html?yhp=1
Not sure how many lemons God has thrown at my face in the past ## years, but in hindsight, I am grateful for those lemons. They indeed colors my life. Life is indeed about decisions and perspectives.
May her story give you some sort of encouragements.
What is love?
For ages, people have done things in the name of LOVE. Parents punish children in the name of love. Teenagers may poignantly defy parents’ objections in the name of love for their passions, whatever that may be. Terrorists kill mercilessly in the name of love for their religion. Missionaries willingly sacrifice themselves in the name of love for their God. Is it wrong to say that love seems to be the greatest motivation in life?
What is love?
Can people be happy without love? Does one’s happiness solely depend on one’s “love bank account”? Why do people glow, especially when they are in love? They glow because they are happy? If so, feeling happy depends on feeling loved??
What is love?
There are several Greek words for love: Agape (sacrificial love, Eros(romantic, marital, & passionate love, with sensual desire and longing), phileo (friendship), and Storge (familial love). Both Plato & Socrates had expounded on these four loves. BTW, the word platonic is derived from Plato’s definition on Eros love, which is without physical attraction. Probably that was due to his passionate pursuit of wisdom, which can’t be categorized under Phileo.
The highest form of these types of love is agape. It loves sacrificially when all other types of love quit, and cares when there is no apparent reason to care, as described well in Romans 5:8, Ephesians 5:25 and the famous love chapter 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (“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.
Storge love is best described in family setting, such as the love between children and parents and between siblings.
Most friendships build on Phileo. It is that “something” that you see in another person that draws you to be closer to them and be their friend. It is that tender affection toward that person. Some has said that the tender affection of Phileo love makes the unconditional love of Agape very enjoyable. And I agree. It is quite impossible to enjoy someone without the Phileo. Some people are simply too ROUGH to be around. God does use phileo love to describe His tender love for us. In John 16:27, Jesus said, “For the Father Himself LOVES (phileo) you, because you have loved (phileo) me…”
Eros love is needed to make a marriage. Eros is the fulfillment of the EXCLUSIVE physical sexual desire that a husband and wife show toward each other. It’s when “…the two …become ONE FLESH” (Matthew 19:5).
Of all human relationships, ONLY marriage requires ALL FOUR LOVES to make it complete. Negligence in any of them will leave a gaping hole that will cause frustrations and unfulfillment in the marriage.
What is love?
Is the feeling of LOVE the most powerful thing in life?
If so, what/who is the love killer in your or my life? Hatred? Indifference? Selfishness? Pride? Someone?
The answer to the final question above may lead you to the path of happiness.
Life consists of a string of decisions; each decision comes with a price tag/risk; and the price tag/risk can determine the quality of your life. Of all life decisions, I consider two as the most important ones: 1) Your belief system – choose which God or gods to serve, 2) your marriage partner.
I have seen a wide range of people who make the 1st choice right, but the second wrong, 1st wrong but second right, both choices wrong, or both choices right. Admittedly, I am biased when it comes to choosing a belief system. I don’t believe all belief systems are fundamentally the same, but that is not the scope of this article. The scope of this article is how to avoid making the second choice wrong and falling into the pitfalls of any long-term relationships by learning from others’ mistakes.
Life is too short to have to learn all mistakes from our own life experiences. A wise person will want to learn from others’ mistakes, not that s/he wants others to make mistakes.
These blogs offer great insights into the complexities of human relationships and the aftermath of any bad human relationship choices.
The 1st blog offers an affair from mostly women’s perspective; the 2nd one mostly from men perspective; the 3rd one from both genders.
2. http://tvexplorer.wordpress.com
3. http://www.dearcupid.org/question/i-want-to-get-over-my-affair-but.html
Live life fully by making the right choice.
