Love Thought #1

I'm celebrating
Valentines Week
with a daily
"Love Thought"!!!

#1
Everyone wants to love, and everyone wants to be loved. From our earliest years, we look for love. Some people travel far and wide in search of it, and others may not know love when they’ve found it.
In days past, children left little paper hearts or small boxes of candy on the doorsteps of friends. Sometimes the children would ring the doorbell and run. Usually they included a note that read, “I love you.”
Yet even at a young age, children seem to understand that “love is more than a paper heart. Love is of the very essence of life,” as a wise religious leader once taught. “Love is the security for which children weep, the yearning of youth, the adhesive that binds marriage, and the lubricant that prevents devastating friction in the home; it is the peace of old age, the sunlight of hope shining through death. . . . Love, like faith, is a gift of God.” -Gordon B Hinkley
But love has many counterfeits. If we’re not careful, we may mistake love for one of its
impersonators. True love is never manipulative, domineering, or selfish. It doesn’t require loyalty tests or paybacks.
Real love is freely given. It liberates and empowers. It enlarges the heart and makes room for others. Love withholds judgment and is patient. Love manifests itself in kindness, respect, and compassion. Love overlooks differences and extends mercy. Love is an abundant, generous feeling that changes the way we see the world, the way we live in the world.
Those who have received genuine love, and those who have given it, know that it is truly God’s greatest gift to His children.

-This is a message from "Music and the Spoken Word" (speaking of love... I love this program and hope it continues for another 80 years!)