Recently I've been struggling with the idea of love being a choice or just simply a feeling. Do we love the people around because it is naturally in us or is it because we made that choice?
Well this is what the dictionary has to say about love:
noun
1.
a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person.
2.
a feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection, as for a parent, child, or friend.
In the second definition it clearly states that it is a personal attachment or deep affection. I personally don't believe that we can just create this affection because we want to, I think it's a gift from God. I think there is still a certain level of choice, but as humans we can't just ignore this feeling.
You also need to remember that there are different types of love, C.S. Lewis talks about this in his book "The Four Loves." He categorizes them as affection, friendship, romance and unconditional. Starting with affection, he describes it as the most natural type of love, the type of love that you would have for a family member or someone you ended up with by chance. Friendship, is a freely chosen love, Lewis describes it as "the least biological, organic, instinctive, gregarious and necessary of our Loves." Romance, is being in love with someone or being loved. It is a deep emotional connection. Last, but the one that I find the most important unconditional love, this is the love from God, the type that will last no matter what the circumstances are. It is the greatest of all loves. This unconditional love reminds me of a verse I read in 1 John 4:7-8 "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love."
Do I think we choose who we love? Absolutely, but we can't ignore the unconditional love God pours into us. I also believe that God puts certain people in our lives that we are supposed to love. God calls us to love others, because HE LOVES US. God loves us, even if we don't love him back. We wouldn't know what love is, if He didn't choose to love us. We turn this thing of perfect unconditional love, into something so sinful, but when you know it's from God, it is so perfect. This is why I made the choice to walk in love, because God gave me love, even if people reject love from me, He never will.
