Dear Colleagues,

Good Day,

This article is from the point view of Christianity...

"What is true love and how do you know when you have found it?

“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 hope, always perseveres. Love never fails.” —I Corinthians 13:4-8a(NIV)

This verse describes the characteristics of true love. These qualities can certainly be found in the person of Jesus Christ, and they can be found in all truly loving relationships. The problem with trying to “find” love in our dating lives, is that too often we don't look for these characteristics. Rather we look at physical appearance, popularity, or wealth. These are not the qualities that God looks at and neither should we.

But the LORD said to Samuel, “…The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. A man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

—I Samuel 16:7b (NIV)

Please, go to the attached website for more details....

http://www.christiananswers.net/q-dml/dml-y030.html

I think we all go through each stage at one point, but if you want a better definition of the kind of love you give or the kind of love you seek, here are the seven kinds of love according to the ancient Greeks.

1. Eros: Love of the body 

Eros was the Greek God of love and sexual desire. He was shooting golden arrows into the hearts of both mortals and immortals without warning. The Greeks feared that kind of love the most because it was dangerous and could get them into the most trouble. Eros is defined as divine beauty or lust. Eros is mainly based on sexual attraction and it is where the term “erotica” came from.

2. Philia: Love of the mind 

Also know as brotherly love, Philia represents the sincere and platonic love. The kind of love you have for your brother or a really good friend. It was more valuable and more cherished than Eros. Philia exists when people share the same values and dispositions with someone and the feelings are reciprocated.

3. Ludus: Playful love

Ludus is the flirtatious and teasing kind of love, the love mostly accompanied by dancing or laughter. It’s the child-like and fun kind of love. If you think about it; this generation loves Ludus more than anything else.

4. Pragma: Longstanding love

The everlasting love between a married couple which develops over a long period of time. Pragma was the highest form of love; the true commitment that comes from understanding, compromise and tolerance. It is pragmatic this is why it is referred to as “standing in love” rather than “falling in love” because it grows over time and requires profound understanding between lovers who have been together for many years.

5. Agape: Love of the soul

It is the selfless kind of love, the love for humanity. It is the closest to unconditional love. The love you give without expecting anything in return reflected in all charitable acts. It is the compassionate love that makes us sympathize with, help and connect to people we don’t know. The world needs more Agape.

6. Philautia: Love of the self

The ancient Greeks divided Philautia into two kinds: There is one that is pure selfish and seeks pleasure, fame, and wealth often leading to narcissism and there is another  healthy kind of love we give ourselves. Philautia is essential for any relationship, we can only love others if we truly love ourselves and we can only care for others if we truly care for ourselves.

7. Storge: Love of the child

This is the love parents naturally feel for their children. It’s based on natural feelings and effortless love. Storge is the love that knows forgiveness, acceptance and sacrifice. It is the one that makes you feel secure, comfortable and safe.

Defining love can help us discover which kind we need to give more of and which kind we want to receive. If we incorporate Eros, Ludus & Pragma into our relationships and Agape, Philia and Storge into our lives, we will reach Philautia and live a happier life

Storge or affection is a wide-ranging force which can apply between family members, friends, pets and owners, companions or colleagues; it can also blend with and help underpin other types of tie such as passionate love or friendship.

The traditional, Western view of romantic love—what philosopher Aaron Ben-Zeév calls the Romantic Ideology—maps to a phenomenon that psychologists call limerence. Whatever you call it, it’s all about the initial bliss and excitement of falling in love. And while expressions of limerence are defined by culture, the underlying process is probably evolutionarily quite old, and exists in many mammals.

Falling in love, or something like it, has been well characterized in monogamous prairie voles, for example. In these animals, a series of clever experiments established that the hormones released when two prairie voles mate—oxytocin and vasopressin—bind to neurons in the part of their brains responsible for reward. These are the same areas activated by drugs of addiction, leading scientists to say that, in effect, drugs hijack systems that evolved to allow us to fall in love.

And while the neurobiology of love may be analogous in humans to the way it works in voles, we don’t understand it nearly as well. There is a limit to what this line of inquiry can tell us about the nature or “purpose” love. For more concrete answers, we have to look to the consequences of love—those things that are easily defined and measured. One of the primary consequences of love, in humans as well as other mammals that trend monogamous, is the “pair bond.” In people, we have great data on getting together and breaking up.

Dear Colleagues,

Good Day,

"Quotes That Will Make You Rethink What “Love” Means:

1- “For many, love is a two-sided coin. It can strengthen or stifle, expand or enfeeble, perfect or pauperize. When love is returned, we soar. We are taken to heights unseen, where it delights, invigorates, and beautifies. When love is spurned, we feel crippled, disconsolate, and bereaved. Polish the coin and you will see only requited love on both sides. I was destined to love you and I will belong to you forever.”

                                                  ―Colleen Houck

2- “Love never dies a natural death. It dies because we don’t know how to replenish its source. It dies of blindness and errors and betrayals. It dies of illness and wounds; it dies of weariness, of witherings, of tarnishings.”

                                                   ―Anaïs Nin

Please, see the reference....  

https://thoughtcatalog.com/brianna-wiest/2013/06/30-quotes-that-will-make-you-rethink-what-love-means/

Dear Colleagues,

Good Day,

This article is from the point view of Christianity...

"What is true love and how do you know when you have found it?

“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 hope, always perseveres. Love never fails.” —I Corinthians 13:4-8a(NIV)

This verse describes the characteristics of true love. These qualities can certainly be found in the person of Jesus Christ, and they can be found in all truly loving relationships. The problem with trying to “find” love in our dating lives, is that too often we don't look for these characteristics. Rather we look at physical appearance, popularity, or wealth. These are not the qualities that God looks at and neither should we.

But the LORD said to Samuel, “…The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. A man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

—I Samuel 16:7b (NIV)

Please, go to the attached website for more details....

http://www.christiananswers.net/q-dml/dml-y030.html

"Love is, in my view, the major source of joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." Michael Caputo,

Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own." Robert A. Heinlein

"Love is a mighty power, a great and complete good. Love alone lightens every burden, and makes rough places smooth. It bears every hardship as though it were nothing, and renders all bitterness sweet and acceptable." Thomas A Kempis

"Giving is not just in money either. We can give unconditional love; we can give mercy, our prayers, our talents and services." Jason Ponzio

Love is the great sensation that moves man to greater heights to do the unimaginable.

Dickson Adom

"It's the give-and-take thing that makes life wonderful and keeps us safe, strong and sane in this crazy world. Be always ready to give love." K.M. Kassi.

love is life