God does not promise us a spouse in the Bible. You can look but you won’t find. I get annoyed when people say, “God will give you a wonderful wife.” How do they know that? I don’t doubt God can provide if he chooses, I just believe there are no guarantees. I think God will provide for us–with a spouse or the ability to live as a single.
True love is not love-at-first-sight. Love is built over time. It’s not instantaneous. How can you truly love someone if you don’t know them? Attraction-at-first-sight, perhaps. But not love. A person’s exterior is visible the first time you meet them but it takes time to see into their soul. Authentic love grows like an oak tree-each year the roots grow deeper and the branches spread farther.
I don’t think it’s wrong to pursue someone if you’re attracted to them physically. But I think it’s a bad sign if their physical form is the only thing that attracts you. What happens when you grow old? What will hold you together? I wonder if this might be why so many marriages fall apart.
True love requires tremendous energy and dedication, and a lover’s calendar and checkbook should reflect commitment to their beloved. I think young people have a warped view of relationships. Marriage is hard. Ask any married couple, even older Christian couples. I don’t think it’s strange to say marriage is hard and wonderful in the same sentence.
Anything valuable in life must be worked for. I think our fast food, consumerist culture may have stripped us of the endurance needed for marriage. We expect everything to fall into our laps, and we become indignant when it doesn’t.
Love is one of the deepest human emotions. It is difficult to quantify. You can’t put it in a bottle and sell it like wine. You can’t measure it with instruments of science.
I don’t claim to know much about love, I’m not some kind of love guru. These are just my thoughts and you’re free to disagree with them … I just hope you gain something from this.
I’m writing a group of posts about controversial/interesting topics, and I want YOU to pick the topics for me. Check out some topics I suggested here https://jonathanbundy.wordpress.com/2010/04/05/new-series-of-posts-you-decide/
Per Sanguis 
Nina
/ May 4, 2010I completely agree with you, Jonathan. This is why it irritates me when people who are our age start saying “I love you” so early in on in relationships. I really don’t think you know what love is until you have spent a few years committed to that person. Time is the test of true love.
Thanks for writing on this topic. It was nice to hear your thoughts. 🙂
hanguk859
/ May 6, 2010Nice bro,
I particularly liked:
“A person’s exterior is visible the first time you meet them but it takes time to see into their soul.”
jonathan
/ May 9, 2010Thanks, man
Anonymous
/ May 6, 2010Love is built over time. Indeed, and well put. The hectic rush of “modern life” has distorted our view of love. It’s become a feeling, purely emotional that determines whether we are “in love.” Truthfully, love is a commitment, a lifelong commitment, that can only be made after careful deliberation. “Falling in love” may sound quick, but truely, it should be quite a long fall.