Love is a CHOICE
Love is a Choice – Not an Emotion. Have you ever considered the fact that love is a choice? Love is not simply an emotion, yet love affects your emotions…love causes you to laugh & to cry. Love causes you to be happy and sad. Love keeps you awake at night. Love gives you the lump in your throat, the knot in your stomach, the cold sweat on your brow…yes, love does all those things, but love is not an emotion. Love is a choice.
Love affects your emotions and love controls your emotions. Love greatly impacts your emotions, but love IS a choice. You don’t fall in love, you decide to love someone. Really…you decide…you choose to love.
You see, let me explain it this way; love can give you the warm fuzzy feeling when you’re with the one you love, the one you’re attracted to. There’s a definite synergy between the two of you that causes your heart to race or skip a beat, your pulse to pound, and gives you butterflies in your stomach. But those effects are all due to the choice you make to love.
When we say love is a choice, we’re saying that you must choose to love your spouse everyday in such a manner that you make him or her feel as if they are the most important person in the world to you. Because, what happens if love is simply an emotion & love is how you feel…and what if you have a bad day?
What if you stub your toe when you get out of bed…late because the alarm malfunctioned. The coffee pot overflows, you’re stuck in traffic, you are late to work, your boss gives you a poor evaluation that you don’t feel is warranted, you get home to find the kids fighting, dinner is not ready, and as if that wasn’t enough, your wife has decided to perm her hair. She’s in the bathroom with her hair all curled up in a foil bag on top of her head and the house stinks to high heaven!
Would you love her then if love was an emotion? Or will your feelings and emotions kick in and take over? You will be frustrated and annoyed! Annoyed at the clock. Frustrated with the coffee pot, your boss, your evaluation, the kids, the fact that dinner isn’t ready, and to top it off, your wife has a stupid bag on her head! You’re gonna be annoyed! I promise you!
But are you gonna love her? You are going to love her, and do you know why? Because love is a CHOICE. Your love does not waver with your emotions. Sure, you’re frustrated and annoyed…but you keep on loving her. Because it’s the right thing to do and because you CHOOSE to. Don’t fall for the worlds’ view of love that says love is an emotion and a feeling that can be changed as often as you change your oil or cell phone plan.
Love is a choice, and once you start buying into that concept and you change the way you think about your spouse, you will change the way you treat your spouse. You will also change some of your daily habits. When you start changing some daily habits, your impact your marriage in a amazing ways..
In closing, remember this…
No matter where you are in your marriage today, one thing is certain: the choices you make regarding your spouse and your marriage will have an impact with immediate and long-lasting results!
