When Love Is Not Love

There is an old saying that goes: If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it must be a duck.  Not necessarily.  The picture on the left looks like a duck.  When pulled, it will make a noise like a duck.  Ask any child over 2 years old what it is and he will tell you "A duck."  Is it a duck?

If you ask this little boy what he is doing, he will say, "Riding my horse."  Is he?  He thinks he is.  With his imagination, he can go all over the country and capture many bad guys on that horse. 

You and I can see that it is not a real horse.  And we can see the duck is not a real duck.  Why?  Because we are adults and know the difference in real and make believe?  It seems that some women don't.

They live by the old Sandy Posey song Born a Woman.  The song said, "Stepped on, lied to, cheated on and treated like dirt.  If you're born a woman, you're born to be hurt."  There are women that allow some man to leave them for another woman only to completely forgive and take him back when he cries.  "Hey, everybody makes mistakes."  Your right.  They do.  What about the second or third time he does it?  "But he said he loved me."  Yes he did.  Would she take him back if he said, "By the way, I don't love you, but I need a place to crash for a while because the other woman threw me out"?  Or maybe "I don't love you, but I need your money"?  "Well no.  That would be stupid."  You are right, it would.  He knows that.  So what does he do?  He does what he does best.  He LIES.  Why?  Because it works.  It gets him what he wants.  Her friends try to tell her.  Does she listen?  No.  She stands up for him and proclaims his valor.  Then she tells her friends, "You just don't understand him." 

What does the Bible say about true love?

And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her.  Genesis 29:20.   Remember that Jacob had already worked seven years for Rachel.  He was lied to and cheated out of his fair wages.  Yet he agreed to work another seven years for her.

And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free:Exodus 21:5  This verse says that a man should love his wife and children enough to give up freedom to be with them.

When is love not really love? 

• When it treats you with disrespect. 
• When it puts anything above your feelings.
• When it asks you to give up something you love.
• When it offers false hope.
• When it offers false apologies.
• When it harms someone you love.