“Prove all things; hold fast that which is good” – 2 Thessalonians 5:21
I remember the Chemistry practical we had when I was in secondary school. There was a test we carried out to determine the acidic properties of unripe fruits. A red litmus paper was used and after the test, it turned blue. If we hadn’t used a litmus paper, using any other means would be consequential.
Do you remember the taste of unripe fruits?
This also applies to untested love. Have you test that love?
Many people claim to be in love but only few took their time to test the love they had or that was expressed to them. You don’t test love by putting all your life or heart in it, you test it with the appropriate elements.
Some people mistaken infatuation, lust or deception as love and at the end, they’ll say love is wicked, it’s crazy or it doesn’t cost a thing. Is that true about love? Nay!
God is love. Whether you agree or not, that’s the basic truth. Loving a person that doesn’t fear God is like a time bomb awaiting explosion. And loving like God doesn’t bring any hurt but when you allow other things to define your love, you’ll be exposed to terrible consequence.
And just before you allow that love to get over your head or heart, relax and subject that love to the following tests.
1. Time
How can you, in less than three months make up your mind to spend the rest of your life with a person without doing the needful? Love comes softly and it grows with time. It is not love if you rush or induce it.
Allow time to pass over his or her claim of loving you. If it’s genuine, it’ll stand the test of time. Love can’t be hidden, but the likes of lust and infatuation can. If it’s love, it’ll give you time to grow and express yourself.
But if it’s lust and the likes, it will hurriedly demand what it want from you and leave as soon as it has achieved its intent.
2. Sacrifice
God, being the model of love sacrificed His only begotten Son and His son likewise gave up His life for the salvation of mankind.
That love isn’t love if it doesn’t sacrifice anything cogent for you. It is not love if it is self-centered. No, it’s not love when it makes blind sacrifices that would ruin its life.
Love sacrifices, not at the expense of the life of the giver but to better the life of the receiver. It is not love if you have to prove it with sex, money or meet certain conditions. Love is sacrificial.
Does it sacrifice time, energies and resources prudently? If it doesn’t do any of that, then it’s not the kind of love you must depend on otherwise you’ll put your life in jeopardy.
It takes time for love to grow and it takes sacrifice to see love grow. If he truly loves you, he won’t ruin your life for his self-centered or selfish reasons. And if she loves you, she won’t push you into what you’re not supposed to do just to prove the worth of her love.
Don’t be fooled by how romantic or scintillating his or her claim of ‘I love you’ is all about, allow time to pass over it if it’s the kind of love that would stand the test of time.
Remember, it’s not love if you have to prove it with your body, sex or any demeaning conditions. Love grows softly, naturally and without any catalyst that would speed it up, only lust and infatuation does.
Have you tested that love before you put all your eggs (heart, time, resources) in its basket?
