Love was first reflected in Christianity which is about God’s unconditional love and grace to mankind. According to John 4:16, in the Bible, “God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them”. The Oxford Dictionary defines love as “a strong feeling of affection and in Old English it was called ‘lufu’.
As a virtue love represents compassion, kindness and affection towards humans, one self and even animals. In Christian theology, love or charity (as it is also called), is one of the greatest virtues. In fact love is known as a spiritual virtue, of St. Paul’s trio of love, hope and faith in the Bible. It also means to show unconditional love to others, just as Christ loved the mankind unconditionally. Love has a Hebrew origin based on Christian doctrine, but the Greek words Agape and Philio both refer to one’s love for God and other human beings.
It is a virtue that means caring for others, sacrificially helping out people, supporting and encouraging selflessly, and showing genuine affection. Love relates to having a mental attitude that is free from envy, hatred, bitterness, jealousy, arrogance, self-pity and all other sinful thoughts and feelings. Having this virtue helps an individual to become self-sustained. It is important to be of a strong character to be able to resist temptations and distractions, and be of a clean heart and mind, to be able to show love to all. For instance, a man won $1000 in a lucky draw and later in the day when he was returning home, he saw a poor woman begging for alms, carrying her newborn baby in her arms. The man had pity on her and immediately handed her out a $100 note. This shows that he had concern for her and as a gesture of goodwill and kindness, gave the poor lady some money. Had he not done so, inspite of having so much money in his pocket, it would have shown him to be a selfish man.
We have so often heard the Biblical principle “Love thy neighbor as thyself” which also means do unto others as you want others to do unto you. So for everyone to live in harmony it’s important to show love and kindness to all. These qualities of love and care in an individual definitely lead to success in life and a good reputation in the society as well.
In the world of today, where there is so much competitiveness, jealousy, political wars, very frequent natural calamities, high rate of divorce and broken families, corruption and ill-treatment, it is even more important to have this virtue of love. Showing love in this world brings with it peace and harmony, growth and fruitfulness, co-operation and support, and ties everyone together in a strong bond. Our world definitely needs all of these to fight all the battles, and create a healthy environment for the younger generation. Since love is the greatest of all virtues, one can surely be a successful individual by showing love in all actions and endeavors.
Love also refers to human emotion and passion such as friendship love or romantic love for another human being. For these relationships to be strong and lasting, their basis should be the virtue of love, unadulterated and pure. True genuine love in relationships is the one that can stand firm the rigor of time and all odds in life. Love is patient, kind, forgiving, caring and persevering. If one can truly keep these characteristics of love in life, this world will be such a happier place to live in. Everyone has troubles in life and there are many lonely people around, but if we are able to treat and talk to people with love, it certainly makes a lot of difference. It uplifts one’s sad countenance and fills the heart with joy. If there is love there is life, therefore you live more if you love more!
Reference
The Seven Virtues. 2012. Changing Minds. Retrieved from
http://changingminds.org/explanations/values/seven_virtues.htm
Unconditional Virtue Love. 2010. Bible Doctrines from the Word of God. Retrieved from
http://www.egracebiblechurch.org/unconditional_virtue_love.htm
The Virtue of Love. 2012. Experts Column. Retrieved from
http://expertscolumn.com/content/virtue-love
Why Love is Important in Our Life. 2010. Ezine Articles. Retrieved from
http://ezinearticles.com/?Why-Love-is-Important-in-Our-Life&id=3812256
