Real love

As I was reading I Kissed Dating Goodbye by Joshua Harris I came upon a paragraph that really hit me. It said this:

"The world takes us to a silver screen on which flickering images of passion and romance play, and as we watch they say, " This is love." God takes us to the foot of a tree on which a naked and bloodied man hangs and says, "This is love."

Isn't this so true? The world's version of love is sooo different than the love God wants for us and is continously showing us. The world says love is some mysterious force and that it is measured by our emotions and feelings. Christ taught that "love is not for the fulfillment of self, but for the glory of God and the good of others." I think that the perfect example of love was shown in Christ's sacrifice for us on the cross. He willingly placed himself on that cross while all of his "feelings and emotions" told him not to. He obviously didn't "feel" like dying a brutal and gruesome death, but his love for us was stronger than any feeling or emotion he had at the time. Like Joshua Harris says, "we need to throw out the misconception that love is some strange force that tosses us around against our will like leaves in the wind. We cannot justify doing what we know is wrong by saying that love grabbed hold of us and made us behave irresponsibly. That's not love. Instead, it's what the Bible calls in Thessalonians 4:5 passionate lust. We express true love in obedience to God and service to others- not reckless or selfish behavior."

I want to learn to love not how the world teaches us to love, but how Christ taught us to love.

"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 perserveres. Love never fails."

-1 Corinthians 13:1-13