Steve Cornell writes:
A wife once told me that she planned to leave her husband because (in her words) she “just didn’t love him anymore.” When I asked her to change the way she worded her decision to say, “I am choosing to no longer value my husband and to break my commitment to remain faithful to him,” she insisted on using terms that made her a victim of feelings she could not change. Ironically, she also thought of her decision as virtuous because of her honesty and lack of hypocrisy.
Over the years, I have had people tell me they want to be married because they love each other and I’ve had people (like this woman) tell me that they want out of their marriages because they no longer feel love for their mate.
This has led me to ask some serious questions about the nature of love. What is love? Is it something we can fall into and fall out of? Is it chemistry? Infatuation? Is it an emotional response or a choice? In my evaluation, I’ve concluded that we need to distinguish two dimensions of love.
BEING in love and BEHAVING in love.
1. Being in love
This dimension is the emotional attraction of love. It’s what people mean when they speak of “falling in love.” It’s usually based on more superficial reactions to appearance and first impressions. Clearly, it’s a natural part of human attraction and although not necessarily wrong, it’s not enough to sustain a meaningful and lasting relationship. It’s far too superficial. Deeply satisfying relationships are built on the second dimension of love:
2. Behaving in Love
This dimension does not depend on feelings and chemistry. It’s the love of volition. It’s the choice to respond to my mate in a loving manner–regardless of feelings. This dimension of love is a choice to value my mate and seek his or her best. While I can’t always make myself feel a certain way, I can always choose to act in a loving way.
In the context of marriage, the distinction between these two dimensions is very important. Most relationships start with a high dose of the BEING dimension of love and, in most relationships, this feeling diminishes with time. When this happens, the key to keeping the flame of love burning is not the pursuit of a feeling — but a decision to value the other person and be devoted to his or her best — no matter what one feels.
It’s a choice to act in love even when we don’t feel love. I realize that to many people this sounds almost like a great sin. It sounds as if I am advocating some form of dishonesty. Yet, surprisingly, when we choose to love, the feelings often follow the actions!
A cultural barrier:
We must confront a cultural barrier that threatens this understanding of love. Our culture sends a strong message telling us that above all else, we must be true to our feelings! A failure to do this, we’re told, would simply be dishonest and hypocritical. It has become a contemporary mark of good character to be true to your feelings.
This cultural ethic is often used to give people a false sense of virtue when breaking deep commitments. By “avoiding hypocrisy” and “being honest enough to admit the loss of feelings,” they feel justified (perhaps even virtuous) in breaking their wedding vows.
There is a deep and self-destructive deception in this line of reasoning. It implies that we are somehow victims of our feelings instead of capable of mastering them. A big problem with this is that feelings can come and go with changes in the weather.
Do you go to work only when you feel like going? Do athletes or great musicians only practice when they feel like it? We simply cannot live a healthy and productive life if we let our feelings master us. This is especially true in relationships.
If we hope to experience deep and lasting relationships as intended by God, love must be understood as a value word and as an action more than a feeling.
Remember that God demonstrated His love for us not because we were a warm, lovable group of people whom he could not resist. Instead, “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). This is the kind of love husbands are commanded to show toward their wives (Ephesians 5:25).
I invite you to share this post with others and to use it for conversation as couples, in small groups and with those preparing for marriage. Reflect often on this distinction between: Being in love and Behaving in love.
Prayerfully evaluate your love based on the best definition of love available to humanity.
“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 hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails” (I Corinthians 13:1-8a).