Love knows no boundaries

That is an excellent statement, until I tell you where I heard it. It was an ad for one of the local sex stores. I’ve not been to this establishment, but from the commercials I’ve seen for years, they have anything you need to stimulate your sexual activity. Videos, magazines, provocative garments, and sex toys are some of the things pictured.

Basically, what they are telling us is that sex should have no boundaries. The Old Testament Law sets many limits for sex, only between a man and a woman who are married. No premarital or extramarital relationships are allowed. Some say that the Hebrew scriptures allow multiple partners through polygamy.

That is not the true story that is in the Bible. The Israelites, as well as their neighbors, used these techniques to have large families to work the land. This also happened here in this country until the U.S. law restricted the practice. Utah had to restrict polygamy before it could be granted statehood.

Many Greek words are translated as the English word “love”. One that isn’t even in the New Testament is Eros. This is sexual love, or what I refer to as lust. I’ve covered this before: lust is an emotion, and I define love as a verb.

Phileo is what we consider to be brotherly love. Hence, Philadelphia is called the City of Brotherly Love. Brotherly love is the admiration that we feel for relatives. In some cases, this emotion can also be felt by friends. Once again, it is an emotional type of love.

Family love is Storge in Greek. Again, this is defined as an affection for not only those you are related to, but can also be for friends. C.S. Lewis also included a fifth type of love in his book “The Four Loves.” This fifth is what he defined as the likes that we make into love. That is what it is when you say, “I love chocolate,” or something else that is not really a love.

The fourth love is the Greek Agape, which is the love that Jehovah has for us which is an unconditional love. Paul tells us in First Corinthians chapter thirteen what Agape is. Patient and kind are the positives, and then there are a lot of negatives. He also tells us it is not envious, boastful, conceited, selfish, or acting improperly.

He lets us know that this type of love never ends like the others can. This Agape is what we should strive for with our spouses, family, friends, and even those we consider just acquaintances. Jesus does not restrict His Agape to only those who accept Him as their Savior and Lord. This is why He accepts you if and when you are willing.

©Copyright 2026 by Charles Kensinger

Love in thirty days

We just watched another Christmas rom-com in which a couple who start out disagreeing about everything decide they are in love in thirty days or less. This is not reality, or is it? Some believe in love at first sight. There is also the concept of “falling in love.”

Cindy and I began dating in October. By the time I left in June of the next year, we were engaged. That was fifty years ago. Was it love at first sight? No. I realized I loved her after a few weeks and asked her to marry me because I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her.

I asked her out because I liked her. I guess you could say it was like at first sight. The more I got to know her, the more I enjoyed being with her. I decided to love her because I could not imagine my life without her in it. That took longer than thirty days. Not much more, that may be true.

We did not start fighting or disliking each other. We have our squabbles and disagreements from time to time. I learned this from living in a family where love was exhibited every day. Mom and Dad also had disagreements. I remember Mom throwing dishes at my father once.

Romantic comedies, either in movies, TV, or books, must include certain elements of storytelling. Real life may be your story, but it does not have the plot points and character traits that we include in fiction. Life is life, and fiction is fiction. Romance is not necessarily what an author or script writer thinks that it is.

Love is what a couple desires it to be between themselves. What you consider romantic or loving in your relationships may be different from what others would call these descriptors. Dr. Gary Chapman defined five love languages in his books. These methods of communicating love are not accepted by everyone.

Some show love by words of affirmation, receiving gifts, quality time, acts of service, or physical touch. There have been jokes made about what a love language is. Portuguese is not a love language mentioned by Dr. Chapman.

You and your spouse may have a different story from ours. If you believe that you “fell in love” at “first sight,” I would like to hear your story. Comment below to share it with me. If you do not wish to share it with my readers, include that in your comment, and I will not release it to anyone else.

©Copyright 2025 by Charles Kensinger