My DB1 post (348) Love is a very common word in almost all cultures.

Love can be found even in places where people still live in caves. However, the definition of love remains an enigma. In a survey conducted by Parrott one person said, Love is like lightning (Parrott, 2006, pp. 35). He explained the lighting to be like something that becomes known only when one gets hit by it. Others understand love as intense positive feelings and emotions toward another individual. Writing from a biblical standpoint, the apostle Paul noted, Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud (1 Cor. 13:4, NIV). Pauls point of view suggests that love is made of patience and kindness, and deprived of envy, pride and self-elevation. Katherine Anne Porter noted, Love must be learned, and learned again and again; there is no end to it. (Ibid). Parrott noted that the only person who helped in defining love is the Yale University psychologist, Robert Sternberg, with the development of the triangle model (pp. 37). In this model, passion, intimacy and commitment represent the three fundamentals sides of the love. Commenting on Sternbergs triangle model, Parrott observed, large amounts of intimacy, passion, and commitment yield a large triangle. The larger the triangle, the more love (pp. 40). He associated passion with sensuality, intimacy with emotion, and commitment with a future that cannot be seen and promises to be there until death ( pp. 39). Love is dynamic. It tends to expand in the following stages; romance is concerned with mutual attraction; power struggle with the partners roles in the relationships; cooperation with our willingness to change; mutuality is concerned with a sense of oneness between the partners; and finally, co-creativity deals with a life full of harmony (pp. 46-49). These five stages show that love is a life-long process that requires patience, kindness, passion, intimacy and commitment.

References Parrott, L. and Parrott, L. Saving your marriage before it starts: Seven questions to ask beforeand afteryou marry. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2006.