Men and Dating - Series 1 Episode 10

Love -

“Love is not a noun. It is an action verb.”

Once, while arguing with a guy who said he loved me, I told him this phrase. “What does that even mean?” he asked. *Facepalm*

Love is not simply an emotion. Sure, that’s part of it. I mean, you have to like the person you are with forever. But that’s just a small part of it. You can’t simply like someone. They are going to get on your nerves and you’re going to have fights. That’s when “Love is an action verb” really takes on meaning.

 This is undoubtedly a complex subject. The things I have learned regarding Love might not work for others. I don’t consider myself an expert on this subject, not by a long shot! In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever really been in love with a man, not really in a “I could comfortably marry you” kind of way.

When I was 17, my bishop called me in for an annual interview. While we were talking, he brought up the rumor he’d heard that I had a boyfriend. I confirmed it. I will never forget what he told me then. He told me love is not something I would understand at that time. He told me love grows with every day. He told me he had never loved his wife more when he got engaged to her and each day he grew to love her even more.

Since then, I have watched for signs of what I could classify as “True Love”. Love is good. Love inspires only good things. This is the first lesson of Love that I have learned.

 Love makes you want to be better. It doesn’t make you want to be better temporarily just so you can “get the girl” (or guy). It inspires you to be a better person. It’s a permanent change that comes over you. Love doesn’t have to be romantic. My theory is that love actually isn’t romantic at all. Any married person can correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe that love between husband and wife is fairly similar to love between friends, but on a much larger scale.

There are a couple friends I love very much. We are best friends. Because of this, whenever I am about to do something potentially hazardous to my spiritual health, whether it’s a big thing or a small thing, I think about them and realize that I want to be an example for them. I don’t want to let them down or disappoint them. I would imagine that is how it would be for a husband and wife or even boyfriend and girlfriend, two people in love. I have decided that one way I will know I love a man is that I will want to be better because I know him.

~Rose