i want to start this off by saying that there are 2 main reasons i am posting this
1: my parents are divorced (and so are alot of other people i know including christians)
2: i volunteer at a youth center for street teens
now i know that these 2 reasons for posting this might not make sense right now (especially the 2nd one) but i hope it will later on.
i notice that the teens that i work with dont really seem to know what love really is, and sadly according to statistics, alot of christians dont seem to know either (divorce rates and such). i was talking to a teen one day about relationships and i asked this question: "do you even know what love is?". the teen at first was somewhat offended (but apperantly later reaslized why i asked it). one thing that i hear on a regular basis whenever people break up (each time it was along the same lines, just different ways of saying it) is that they say "i used to/thought i loved the other person". jeremiah 17:9 says the heart is decietful and wicked. here are some definitions of decietful
(of a person) Deceiving or misleading others, typically on a habitual basis. Intended to deceive or mislead.
deceptive - false - fraudulent - delusive - lying
how many times has our hearts decieved use into believing something? even as christians we are not 100% immune to it (we have God to help us). something we tend to forget quite easily is what love is and what love does. the bible says that love is patient, love is kind, does not envy, does not boast, is not proud, does not dishonour others, is not self seeking, is not easily angered, keeps no records of wrongs, does not delight in evil but rejoices in the truth, always protects, trusts, hopes and perseveres. love never fails (1 corinth 13:4-8). in matthew 22:37, Jesus says "love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind". now i know that Jesus is talking about loving the Father, but as i said before, alot of people say they thought they loved the other person when in all honesty it was their heart that was driving them even when all common sense was telling them not too, they didnt (or couldnt) love the other person with all their soul or mind (again because their hearts where in control). back when i was in high school still, this girl asked me out, instead of listening to my common sense which told me not too cause i knew she was a really bad girl (a friend of mine had dated her for a bit) i said yes anyways (cause apperantly i was pretty stupid in high school), turns out that she only did that to try to make her ex boyfriend (my friend) jelous enough to go back out with her (and possibly mess up our friendship). anyways i guess all that i am trying to get across in this is that we as christians need to start being careful with ourselves when it comes to relationships. we need to seek the Lord in everything we do. i hope this made sense, i have never been very good at putting my thoughts down on paper (well internet post in this case) so i do apologize if it seems kind of all over the place.
I think you've touched upon a key failing of our society; and perhaps it's a question we should be asking of our children - what do they think love is and how is it shown?
Certainly secular media is a poor teacher: watch any music video on MTV and it's clear what they associate with the word 'love'! When the OT speaks of God's love, it is often described as Israel a child and God his father, teaching, correcting, providing for and protecting. It makes perfect sense that Jesus would come as 'son' of God to embody such a relationship. Of course, in today's world, even parental love cannot be assumed to have been witnessed by children, yet the rising level of mistrust of others means it's almost impossible for anyone else to fulfil this role either, so countless children go without or with very distorted views of what love is.
