Love at First Sight: Do you believe?

Personality quizzes tend to dominate their own little corner of the Internet, and they can be entertaining, little pastimes. Whether you want to discover what your hair color ought to be, which Disney princess you're heart reflects, what your spirit animal is, or the type of person you attract, you almost always certain to find a quiz for it. However, no matter how many of them I decide to take, I am always faced with one particular question that has continued to stump me for years.

Do you believe in love at first sight?

My answer to this question has flip-flopped from, "Yes." to, "No." to, "I don't know." I have driven myself a little mad trying to figure out what I believe about one silly question that maybe shouldn't even matter, but I have finally settled on an answer.

Before I dive into the whole "first sight" part, I will present my personal definition of love, as well as what I have read in the Bible.

(Mine) Love: an action(s) resulting from sacrificial selflessness that serves towards the overall well-being of another person regardless of any circumstance.

(The Bible) 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. - 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

It is a social tendency to describe love as a feeling, but having been surrounded by it my whole life, I know well enough that "feeling" does not come remotely close to encompassing the entirety of what love is. People who love me prove it to me by setting aside their personal time to be with me, by listening to my endless complaints, by helping me make the hardest decisions, by wrapping me in a hug when sadness leaves me without words, by leaving little notes to brighten my day, and infinitely many more ways. This is how I was taught what love is, but how I came to love others myself and determine whether it can be experienced through an initial glance is another story altogether. To figure all of this out, I retraced my steps back to when I first identified love far beyond fuzzy feelings. I was astonished to discover what it truly is.

Love is a person.

Sitting on a log bench beneath a canopy of summer stars, I promised my heart to someone. I was 10 years old. Silly little girl, right? Yes, but this someone was and is and is to come. He is Someone. I promised my heart to Jesus Christ and confessed for the first time, with my father, that He is Lord, that He died to save me, and that He is love itself. I promised to forever devote my life to Him and love Him, though I had no clue what that actually meant.

See, I grew up believing in Jesus. My favorite songs cried out in desperation for Him. I didn't love Him, though. Not really. Ever since that next morning when I was baptized, I have been learning what it means to love Jesus Christ. I have professed my faith before friends who thought I was nothing short of insane. I have held onto Him through the worst storms life has brewed thus far. I have continually and painfully made effort upon effort to cleanse myself of temptations and sin so that I might clearly reflect the image of my King. I have set aside time to abide with Jesus alone, Who has become my best friend.

Sacrificing myself in ways such as these has not been a cake-walk by any means, and I promise you, dear reader, no single change occurred overnight. However, I can truly say that I love Him now. I had known Love's presence for a very long time, yet I did not love Love until I began to pour every portion of myself into our relationship. He had done His part, and still does each day, mind you. It was my turn to prove myself. After all, He is the greatest love there is.

"Greater love has none than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." - John 15:13

As far as any friend or boyfriend I've been blessed to share portions of my life with, everything I stated previously applies 100%. I can meet someone and form an immediate conclusion about how nice, sweet, or undeniably attractive they are, but until we are acquainted further and I start giving myself for them, I cannot state with confidence that I love them. I can care for them right off the bat, yes, but love them? Not likely. Not until I prove it to myself and them. For any Disney fans that come across this, I'm going to turn back to Frozen. Anna, for example, met Hans the hottie and decided that finishing each other's sandwiches was grounds enough for love and marriage, only to discover that his sole desire was to rule Arendelle. True love, Anna found, was the length she was willing to go to rescue her sister from Hans' evil grasp.

Based off of my own relationship with Love, my final answer is this: I do not believe in love at first sight. I may not know all that there is to know about true love (my word, do I have a long way to go), but I do know seeing an individual and being attracted to them does not equal love. God teaches me what it means to love with each passing day, and He has revealed all of this to me just 9 years after being publicly dunked and pulled from the lake in proclamation of His glory. I am so eager to continue learning what it means to love for the rest of my life, because even then, I will not be finished.

#Truelove #God #Life