A friend wrote this:
I always go back to a common reference in the bible on the subject of love. 1 Corinthians 13.
If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, 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. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
Men and women often drop the standard requirements for love in this passage. Even believers. I find the Lord's love flows through me and I sincerely love others. If I love someone I want the best for them which means instead of envy we are happy for them. Instead of being short with them we want to wait to hear what they will say and truly value it or in love rebuke it.
When we really care for someone we are more than willing to forgive them if they offend us. We want no harm for those we love, so we will do protective things to help them. Love is locked into purity because purity is wholesome and fulfilling. We see the damage unwholesome things can do, so we fight against those things. We persevere for those we love and would trade ourselves for them if it means their good. I see so many parents sacrificing this worlds good to put their kids through college. Husbands sacrificing for wives or deferring to their wants over their own and visa versa.
God's love never fails and we are tapped into His love if we follow Him. Here's the clincher. We are to love our enemies. The bible tells us to love our neighbor as ourselves. I once thought this a heavy chore, and I have known some people who were more difficult to love than others.
If I love my enemy, is that person any longer my enemy? Maybe they are unknowingly working for my spiritual enemy, but I begin to see them as a friend , and they really are my friend as I would do anything for them I would do for a friend. I appreciate them . I am looking out for them. They may not reciprocate but true love isn't always based on reciprocation. It feels good if it happens. Most of my earthly friends have at one time or another let me down and I've probably let them down without realizing it. Some friends drift away over time or we become less intimate with them due to life happening.
There is a natural "hook" between men and women where boundaries need to be set. Lines not crossed. This takes wisdom, understanding and self control on both sides of it. Don't put yourself in a situation where you could be tempted to go too far. If you are tempted to get attached to that deeper level, deal with it in the same ways you deal with any other temptation. Pray. Don't feed it.
Our differences can be appreciated without going too far, that is unless you are single and looking for a wife and those emotional hooks might be setting into someone which is a natural series of events if you are serious with them. This love is a romantic love and it's interesting the Lord uses this kind of love to express His love for the us as the "bride". That love is really a soul tie which is what happens when a man marries a woman.
The world replaces sex for love and has all kinds of other incorrect contexts for it.