Love, A Treasured Antidote for Healthy Relationship

Love, some says it hurts. some says it is poison. What does love means to you? Historically, it had been noted that the most successful businesses have understood the power of building emotional connections (emotional intelligence) with their customers. From Henry Ford to Steve Jobs, love and empathy have always been at the core of their customer relation modus operandi. Looking back, statistics have shown that businesses without leads find it difficult to generate income, while those with returning leads tend to increase their income revenue. The connection between generating new lead and returning customer is ‘love’.

Oxford dictionary defines love as, “An intense feeling of fondness or attraction, deeper and stronger than liking, especially when associated with a romantic or sexual attachment to someone”. Though it emphasizes a romantic or sexual relationship, many scholars had researched the theme of ‘Love’ and coined it in their own thoughts.

In 1970, the psychologist, John Lee summarized Love into primary and secondary love. The primary love was further broken into three forms, namely: Eros or erotic love; Ludus or playful love and storage or familial love (the kind expressed by parents towards their children). The secondary which is a mixture of the pry’s include: Mania or obsessive love (mixture of Eros and Ludus); pragma or mature love (mixture of Ludus and Storge) and Agape or unconditional love (mixture of Storge and Eros).

One prominent psychological theory of love, the triangular theory, was also introduced in the 1980s by the American psychologist, Robert Sternberg. Sternberg argued that love has three emotional components. These are intimacy, passion, and decision or commitment.

The biochemists are not left out as they consider ‘love’ to be a biological process because they belief that positive relationships or socializing triggers the cognitive process that affects man emotional and neurological state. As socialists correctly surmised, humans are social animals. Relationship with others evokes the hunger for socialism in man which can transform into desires like lust which is generated by hormones such as Oxytocin and Vasopressin in the body.

However, how is this related to man and his relationship with others?

The bible told us that, “God is love”. The foundation of all humans is “love”. Among other factors that make a man and woman become couple, is affection. we have seen many cases like murder, homicide, suicide, bitterness, low-self-esteem, and so on occurring in our society is due to factors that are traceable to lack of love or lack of devotion. when obsession is not mistaken as love, the world rejoices.

The bible cited many examples on how we are expected to love in order for us to enjoy the good life God has mapped out for us. Here are some bible verses stating how to express love.

1 Corinthian 13:4 – 8 quotes that, “Love is patient, kind and does not envy, boast or rejoice in wrongdoing”.

John 15 verse 12 -13 stated that God said, “This is my commandment, that you love one another, for love is from God”.

Matthew 22:  37 – 38 stated that, “Love the lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind, love your neighbour as yourself”.

1 john 4:16 -18 says, “And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. whoever lives in love live in God and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgement; in this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

Jesus death on the cross signifies His love for man. as water is life to fish, so is salvation of souls to Christ. this love intensity reveals His dimension of love for man which hasn’t wane.

Let’s quickly dive into the benefits of love.

1. Love brings peace.
2. Love incite unity and advancement.
3. Love improves our mental health.
4. Love help us to build social connections.
5. Love yields better physical health.
6. Love as a parenting tool strengthens bond between parents and their children.
7. Love is a strategy for business growth.
8. Love between parents and children produces confident and successful adult.

These are a few of what love can do. Considering the challenges man is facing in his society, do you believe that the world can be a better place if every human being walks and live in God’s love?

ALSO READ: Torn Between Love and Letting Go

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Funmilola Badmus

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