Agape

My word for the new year is Agape. I have learned over the past couple years more and more that love is a choice. It is not a feeling and it is not always easy. Agape is a selfless love. It is unconditional. It is sacrificial. It means commitment. It is beyond emotions, reaching deeper into the heart. God showed us the ultimate form of love embodied in Christ. My goal this year is to demonstrate this kind of love.

***

"A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another."
-- John 13:34

"Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God."
-- 1 John 4:7

“I'm a little pencil in the hand of a writing God, who is sending a love letter to the world.”
-- Mother Teresa

“The only way love can last a lifetime is if it's unconditional. The truth is this: love is not determined by the one being loved but rather by the one choosing to love.”
-- Stephen Kendrick, The Love Dare 

"For one human being to love another: that is perhaps the most difficult of all our tasks, the ultimate, the last test and proof, the work for which all other work is but preparation."
-- Rainer Maria Rilke

"The greatest gift that you can give to others is the gift of unconditional love and acceptance."
-- Brian Tracy

 "I do not have to care for her . . . I get to."
-- Robertson McQuilkin, on caring for his wife upon onset of Alzheimer's disease