Arguably the thing that makes life meaningful the most is love. Conversely love means many things to different people and so therefore I want to use the Greek variations of the concept of love to make it absolutely clear what I am talking about in this blog. The forms of love I want to concentrate on in this blog is Storge & Philia. The elements of love these words define are paternal love and brotherly love: love between families and friends.
I was in a long term relationship until early this year with my ex-fiancee; we had been together four years. Now I am single again and therefore my experience of love has changed. My views on relationships hasn't changed, I still hope to find the right person for me sometime soon, however in picking up the pieces of my life I have had to re-evaluate some of my relationships with my family members and friends. It is often said that a parent's love is 'unconditional' and I am eternally grateful and thankful that I have had the love and support of my parents through what has been a very difficult, and emotional, experience.
In many ways it breaks my heart to think there are children in the world who suffer at the hands of their parents or wider family, the very people who should love and support them the most. We are all of us precious: life is precious and therefore we all deserve the love, commitment, compassion and empathy of our family. Knowing there are many people out there who are not as fortunate as myself in coming from a loving home, I will never fail to value and appreciate the love my parents have shown me. When I have felt rejected and lonely, they have been there. Truly without their love and support I don't know how I would have coped with these past several months. When sometimes you struggle to find meaning in your life, I don't have to look further than the relationship I share with my parents.
Friendships are also important too. I have been blessed throughout my life to have had true, honest, real and loyal friends; friends who have kept in contact with me and spent time with me. Again having been forced to re-evaluate some of these relationships I am determined more than ever to value and respect my friendships, and although my relationship will always be different with my friends to that certain somebody whom I will form that most special of relationships with, nevertheless life would be far more meaningless if we didn't have friends to share it and live it with.
God created us to be social (as well as sexual) beings. In Genesis it says that:
"God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone." Genesis 2:18
God made Eve to be Adam's wife and companion. Life would break down if we were incapable of forming relationships and it is something that makes us who we are as human beings, to be able to sympathise with, love and show warmth and compassion towards other people. The world would be a nightmarishly terrible place if there was not love. Love brings out the best in human beings, it is the highest virtue and the purest emotion. God Himself is love and it says elsewhere in the Bible that:
"No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us." 1 John 4:12
Now the love which is spoken of here in this verse is the very purest form of love there is, of Agape in the Greek, and a subject of a completely separate blog in its own right. I want to share my thoughts on this particular expression of love another time. Notwithstanding my point is, is that God is love and therefore love must be the highest virtue of human nature that we are capable of expressing. Therefore love, in all its expressions and nuances makes life worth living, makes life more beautiful and so much more meaningful. I thank God that He is love and that we can know love, feel love and give love.
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