What is Love?  A Feeling?  A kiss on the cheek?  A word that people throw around because they're obligated to in a relationship?  No, Love is much more powerful than that...love is unconditional, unfailing, persevering and real.

 BUT...the media has distorted this beautiful thing.  Nowadays, love is the word you tell your boyfriend/girlfriend the first week you get together.  Relationships in themselves have transformed from something beautiful to something normal and quick.  There have been countless times where my friends have approached me, sharing with me their depressing experiences of getting their heart broken, and I know how they feel, because I've had my heart broken before.  But you see, relationships aren't meant to be a trial and error, they're meant to prepare two people for marriage, they're meant to be sacred.

Many times, love has become selfish.  Young men and women begin to believe that if you love someone you will give your body to them, but where is the wedding ring?  I don't see a wedding band on your ring finger.  Sex was made to be beautiful, something cherished between a newlywed husband and wife.  However, the media has made it look appealing, fun and something everybody is doing.  Being a virgin in college is highly uncommon, but why?  Because being in love with someone means being patient, and willing to save that purity for the future.  It means if you're with somebody, and you give your heart to that person, and eventually your body as well, what will happen if it doesn't work out?  What if the relationship ends after sexual intercourse?  That's the danger of not waiting.  You may even contract STD's or become pregnant.  But everytime you get in a relationship with a person, you give them a little piece of your heart.  If you constantly change partners and go with a new person every month, your heart begins to dwindle the more you give pieces of your heart away... until you finally find your perfect match and all you can give to him/her is a chewed up, broken, messed up heart that has been through nothing but heartache and unforgiveness.  And perhaps, your habit of dating will eventually lead you to a divorce in your marriage, because you've never been used to keeping a relationship longer than two years.

Well love isn't just talking about MAKING it, it's also about being selfless.  If your boyfriend doesn't call you because he's busy at a game, IT'S OKAY!  Don't freak out!  If your girlfriend can't be there for you on a certain occasion because she has a family emergency, IT'S OKAY!  Don't freak out!  Being with somebody means willing to sacrifice for that person, and willing to be selfless -- allowing that person to have time in other areas of responsibilities.  Why is it that so many relationships ends so quickly?  Because, you talk so much on the phone, see each other everyday, are around one another twenty-four seven, that you eventually start to become transparent with one another.  What I mean with that is the first five months or so, both of you are at your best -- you smell your best, look your best, act your best, ask the parents for permission, etc. etc.  But after a while, you'll see that eventually that will change, and true love means loving that person after everything superficial is taken away.  You love somebody for who they are, not WHAT they are.  You are willing to wait, be selfless, and truly persevere with that person no matter what happens.

So don't give your heart away to just anybody.  Love who you are enough to know that you deserve the best, and you deserve someone that will treat you like a princess, or their prince charming.  Love means to respect, and to endure in the longrun.