{"id":305,"date":"2016-08-15T03:51:45","date_gmt":"2016-08-15T03:51:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/?p=305"},"modified":"2016-08-15T03:51:45","modified_gmt":"2016-08-15T03:51:45","slug":"problem-putting-love-box","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/2016\/08\/problem-putting-love-box.html","title":{"rendered":"The Problem with Putting Love in A Box"},"content":{"rendered":"

“<\/span>Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.” 1 John 4:7<\/p>\n

The older I get, the more I realize that love cannot be put in a box. \u00a0We like to put love in a box and create a lot of rules for it in our society. \u00a0Love your parents (no matter how they treat you). \u00a0Love your siblings (no matter how they act). \u00a0Love and get married to someone who is 1. the opposite gender, 2. your same skin color, and 3. from your socioeconomic background. \u00a0But love fights against man’s boxes.<\/p>\n

We cannot put a formula on love. \u00a0Love is a gift from God. \u00a0It is more complex than our limited thinking or our man-made rules.<\/p>\n

For instance, my love for my husband doesn’t make sense in the world’s terms. \u00a0We are about as different as can be. \u00a0When we met, he was a widower from the mid-west, and I was a divorcee from the East coast. \u00a0He is conservative, and I am liberal. \u00a0We have an eleven-year age difference. \u00a0Yet, he is my best friend. \u00a0I love him more than words can\u00a0express. \u00a0Every day of my life is more wonderful because he is in it.<\/p>\n

God gave us the capacity to love, so we hopefully could expand who we love. \u00a0I have friends, both male and female who I love. \u00a0I’ve had pets who I’ve loved. \u00a0My dog of 16 years died last summer. \u00a0Not a day goes by that I don’t think of him and miss him. \u00a0I loved him.<\/p>\n

Becoming a mother taught me a love that I didn’t even know existed. \u00a0It is a love in which my daughter’s every joy is my joy, and her every sorrow is my sorrow. \u00a0It is a love that defies my basic human, selfish nature.<\/p>\n

What I know now is that love can’t be contained in boxes. \u00a0Love doesn’t belong in a box that limits marriage solely to a union between a man and a woman. \u00a0Love doesn’t belong in a box in which people can only get married if they have the same skin color or practice the same religion. \u00a0It doesn’t belong in a box in which you can only love your biological children. \u00a0And it doesn’t belong in a box in which animals are simply here to serve us and not to be loved by us.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, some churches, including my own, continue to struggle with this issue. \u00a0It is sad and discouraging. \u00a0However, I continue to return to 1 John for solace. \u00a0Man does not define love. \u00a0God does, and what I know for sure is that He does not put love in a box.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.” 1 John 4:7 The older I get, the more I realize that love cannot be put in a box. \u00a0We like to put love in a box and create a lot of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":593,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-305","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Problem with Putting Love in A Box - Your Morning Cup of Inspiration<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/2016\/08\/problem-putting-love-box.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Problem with Putting Love in A Box - Your Morning Cup of Inspiration\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.” 1 John 4:7 The older I get, the more I realize that love cannot be put in a box. \u00a0We like to put love in a box and create a lot of…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/2016\/08\/problem-putting-love-box.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Your Morning Cup of Inspiration\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-08-15T03:51:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Meerabelle Dey\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Problem with Putting Love in A Box - Your Morning Cup of Inspiration","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/2016\/08\/problem-putting-love-box.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Problem with Putting Love in A Box - Your Morning Cup of Inspiration","og_description":"“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.” 1 John 4:7 The older I get, the more I realize that love cannot be put in a box. \u00a0We like to put love in a box and create a lot of…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/2016\/08\/problem-putting-love-box.html","og_site_name":"Your Morning Cup of Inspiration","article_published_time":"2016-08-15T03:51:45+00:00","author":"Meerabelle Dey","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/2016\/08\/problem-putting-love-box.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/2016\/08\/problem-putting-love-box.html","name":"The Problem with Putting Love in A Box - Your Morning Cup of Inspiration","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-08-15T03:51:45+00:00","dateModified":"2016-08-15T03:51:45+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/#\/schema\/person\/7250ab2fc75dd2e7e923fbec0fbb375c"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/2016\/08\/problem-putting-love-box.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/2016\/08\/problem-putting-love-box.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/2016\/08\/problem-putting-love-box.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Problem with Putting Love in A Box"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/","name":"Your Morning Cup of Inspiration","description":"Beliefnet Voices - Meerabelle Dey","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/#\/schema\/person\/7250ab2fc75dd2e7e923fbec0fbb375c","name":"Meerabelle Dey","description":"Meerabelle Dey has a B.A. in History and Religious Studies from the University of Toronto and a J.D. from Fordham University School of Law. Much of her legal career has been spent dealing with issues affecting women, children and the poor. She has lived in the United States, Canada and the Middle East. Meerabelle now devotes her time to writing. Her mission is to use her writing to inspire others to achieve God\u2019s unique purpose for their life.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/author\/mdey"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/593"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=305"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":306,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305\/revisions\/306"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=305"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=305"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=305"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}