What Is True Love?

What is true love? Wuv... Twoo wuv... But seriously. Is it really a knight in shining armor riding in on a noble steed to save the day? I'm sure he's part of it. An important part of it at that. But we use this term all the time: "He's my true love," "True love's kiss," "It's true love..." Well, ok. But what does that mean?

I submit that true love is not always romantic. Maybe you already know this, but this is something that I've thought a lot about lately. True love is sacrifice. True love is a deep, sincere, unassuming concern for another human being simply because they are another human being. True love perseveres no matter what--that is part of the sacrifice. You don't need a reason. It doesn't have to be earned; it is not based on merit. I'm not saying that true love is never earned, because I tell you what, these things work better on two-way streets. I'm just saying it doesn't have to be. That's what makes it true. This is not one of those "an eye for an eye" kind of concepts. 

One of my favorite movies is Disney's Frozen--I know you're sick of hearing everyone talk about it, but bear with me for a minute or two. Frozen has examples of true love and sacrifice up the wazoo. I could talk about it forever, but I want to focus on these lyrics:

Everyone's a bit of a fixer upper
That's what it's all about
Father, sister, brother
We need each other
To raise us up and round us out

Everyone's a bit of a fixer upper
But when push comes to shove
The only fixer upper fixer
That can fix a fixer upper is
TRUE LOVE

I love this song. I don't care what other people say about it, I love it. There is truth here. Consider this: 

Fixer upper = us
Fixer upper fixer = true love = charity = the pure love of Christ

And if true love is sacrifice and also the pure love of Christ, then I argue that the fixer upper fixer is the Atonement made accessible through God's love and Christ's love.

Through the Atonement of Christ, we can change. We can overcome any fixer uppering we've ever done. His Atonement is infinite. That means no limits, no boundaries, no time constraints. It is infinite for the past, the present, and the future. Because of its infinite, limitless power, we are not disqualified from its influence because of past fixer uppering, present fixer uppering, or even future fixer uppering. To be barred from accessing the very thing that would cleanse us from sin (fixer uppering) because of fixer uppering is a contradiction and would make it impossible for anyone to change or become whole. Without fixer uppering, there would be no need for an Atonement. God knows that we're not perfect. Everyone's a bit of a fixer upper. That's what it's all about. Because He knows that we're not perfect, He provided the Atonement so that we could be reconciled with Him. He understands. He doesn't want us to shy away from Him because we don't feel like we deserve His love or His help. He wants us to come unto Him. If we don't then He can't help us. He stands at the door and knocks...

President Thomas S. Monson said this in the 2013 General Relief Society meeting:

Your Heavenly Father loves you—each of you. That love never changes. It is not influenced by your appearance, by your possessions, or by the amount of money you have in your bank account. It is not changed by your talents and abilities. It is simply there. It is there for you when you are sad or happy, discouraged or hopeful. God’s love is there for you whether or not you feel you deserve love. It is simply always there.

I love this. There isn't a better way to say it. It is simply there. We don't have to qualify for it. We don't to reach a certain point of righteousness or conversion before it kicks in. It is simply always there. And there's nothing you can do about that. Literally. No matter what you do, God will love you anyway. 

Maybe that bothers you. "Why?" you ask. "I don't deserve it. That doesn't make sense." Well, look at it this way. God loves you, and if He says that He loves you, and one of His prophets has testified that He loves you, then who are you to say He doesn't? I'm just sayin'... 

"Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not." Doctrine and Covenants 6:36

Doubt not His love. Doubt not the the limitless-ness of Christ's Atonement. Look unto Him. Come unto Him. Let Him heal you. I know He can. And I know He will if you sincerely seek Him. 

 

Live. Laugh. Love.

I over analyze things sometimes... okay, all the time. And it took me forever to decide on a name for this blog. Its primary function is to keep my friends and family up to date on what I'm doing while studying abroad in London so I went through things that sounded adventurous that were connected to London, but during that process I decided that I actually want to continue to use this blog after I get home (sadly, I can’t stay in London forever), which means that something a little more long term would be appropriate. I went through a few ideas and previewed how those titles would look with the design I had chosen and decided against them. You probably noticed that I finally settled on "Live. Laugh. Love." I was worried that this was a little too cliché and then I decided that I don't really care whether it is or not. I like it and you can deal with it if you don’t.

"Live. Laugh. Love." is a motto that I've chosen to describe my philosophy on life. Each word is special and important and I think that the three together create a pretty good recipe for a happy life. 

Live

Choose to live with passion. Find something that you love and then do it! Live with optimism. There will be hard times in life when we feel like we've hit the lowest of lows and there's no way that we can ever recover. There will be ups and downs and who knows what. There will be times when we don't know what to do, where to go, or who to turn to. But I know that everything will work out if we choose life. If we choose to live and we turn to God with faith, then I know everything will work out. In the words of a wonderful and wise man, President Gordon B. Hinckley: “Things will work out. Keep trying. Be believing. Be happy. Don't get discouraged. Things will work out."

Laugh

I feel like Audrey Hepburn said it best: “I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner.” Who doesn’t want to burn a few calories? And what better way to do it?

But seriously. I love to laugh. Cue Mary Poppins, Uncle Albert and Bert singing, “I love to laugh! Ha ha! Loud and long and clear…” Laughing is important. It keeps you happy. Laugh at things that make you happy, laugh at things that you think are funny, and learn to laugh at yourself. It keeps you humble and helps you remember that it’s ok to make mistakes.

Love

What would this world be like without love? No doubt we could use a little more of it. Love deeply and love passionately. It isn’t good to be alone, it isn’t good… My Turn on Earth, anyone? Love doesn’t always have to be romantic although that kind of love is important. Love your family. Keep them close. Love the people around you. Be kind, forgiving, courteous, understanding, thankful, generous. And last but certainly not least, love God. He is everything. And He sure does love you. And you and you and you. And me. J

So there it is. This is my first post. There will be more to come! I am super behind so bear with me. J

Cheers!