I was meditating on the scripture a few days ago, and the verse of the day was about the golden rule: Whatever you want others to do for you, do the same for them. This is found in Matthew 7:12.
This verse came just after Jesus had spoken about judging others; never to judge others if we do not want to be judged, too. The verse is a summary of what it is to love people around us.
Love can mean different things to everyone. While it has been said to be a feeling you have for someone, it actually goes beyond that, because one truth is that our hearts deceive us. If feeling should come from the heart, then it means who we claim to love today can, tomorrow, be a forgotten saying.
For some, they'd claim to love an individual, only to change their minds the next day because the feeling they had for them had soured or faded. Love goes beyond that.
For me, love means showing up. It means sacrificing your time. It goes beyond looking for any reason to love but that you love them for who they are and not for what they are or have.
Imagine loving a particular girl because of her beautiful face and smile. What if tomorrow she encounters an accident and her face is disfigured, would you still claim to love her? Love goes beyond feelings. This is what I call unconditional love.
Love means commitment. If you claim to love someone, you must be committed to them. There shouldn't be any reason not to be closer to them, enjoy time with them, do things together and ensure they are good. Love is to be there for someone even when they least expect it. Love is the golden rule where you receive what you give.
Love means not to hurt another fellow. You can't say you love me and then you hurt me. Love shouldn't be to betray your partner. It doesn't mean you should keep malice and not forgive one another. Love goes beyond just natural feelings or emotions; it’s selfless and unconditional.
When it comes to love, I always refer back to 1 Corinthians 13. This chapter defines what true love should mean. Love is patient, kind, forbearing, does not hate, does not hold grudges, does not think about oneself alone but about others, etc. In fact, that's the kind of love everyone should emulate and not what we have in our world today. The true kind of love is agape; not only based on emotions but also selfless.
Love means being patient. Every human being is different, and the way we tolerate one another differs too. If you claim to love, then you should be patient, which is like putting yourself in their shoes. What if it were to be me, what would I have done differently? This is what true love means - being able to give more time to understand others instead of being too quick to judge or lay accusing fingers.
Sometimes, it’s not easy to show love in that aspect because most often, people aren’t ready to wait a little longer but to make their claim immediately. We tend to say we love but fail in this part, and this is how far we show love to ourselves rather than being too judgmental.
Truth is, everyone can never act the same way; we ought to give each other time to catch up to our standards and if possible, which is what should be: we can make others how we want them rather than pushing them away due to our own measures of examining others.
Image is mine
