Love Is A Choice
AmandaWestAllByFaith 
We often think of love as a feeling. We can feel butterflies in our stomachs, a strong desire for another person, or mushy feelings about a person. What happens when "the new" wears off? Those feelings fade. We get used to the person we are around all the time. Then what?
When we live by these feelings, we do not have realistic expectations of what love really is. We end up disappointed, frustrated, and sometimes just bored. Do we give up or try to make our relationship work? It's easy to give up. But if you do, do you really love that person?
Love is a choice. We can choose to continue to love a person when the feelings fade. We choose our perspectives. When we choose to love, we choose to focus on the things we love about that person. We consider their strengths and positive qualities like wisdom, compassion, mercy, and kindness. Let's choose the remember why we chose that person.
God displayed His truly unconditional love for us when He sent Jesus to die and be resurrected for us. This decision and action were not based on feelings. It was a choice based on love. God loves us so much that He did what was necessary to draw us back to Himself.
God's love for us is called Agape love. Agape love is unconditional and sacrificial love that is given and not based on emotions. It is the highest form of love. This is the essence of God and how He loves us.
Although we are not perfect humans, we should strive to love each other with Agape love. Again, it is not based on feelings but is a choice to love unconditionally and sacrificially. Jesus is our example of how to love with the God kind of love, Agape Love.
