"To love another person is to see the face of God."

- Herbert Kretzmer
( The cast of Les Miserables)



      I love love love this. I can't even fathom what God might possibly look like. This lyric is filled with so much power for me due to that fact. All it takes to see the face of God is to love another person. I initially thought that this was a pretty imple. But once i sat down and truly study out what it means to love I was proved wrong. I'm going to break down my train of thought.
   What is love?:
   Love is fearless. When is the last time you can say you loved someone fearlessly? I know I can count the number of people I have event attempted to love fearlessly on one hand. When you love something or someone, you go all in. No regrets, no second guesses.
   Love is patient. How easily do you lose your patience? How often a day do you lose your patience with someone you "love"? Along those lines, love is tolerant. You do not have to agree with someone to love them. You simply have to take the time, have patience, and understand their opinion. It's like that old saying, walk a mile in their shoes.
   Love is selfless. How long ago was it that you did something that was completely selfless? Or even remotely selfless? With selflessness comes humility.
   Love is humble. Pride overwhelms our thoughts as well as our actions. When you strive for humility, you take yourself off of that high horse you've been parading around on. You see everything in a new light. Bringing yourself down to the level of everyone else allows you to truly love them. Be completely humble.
   Love is truthful. What good comes from lying? No good, no good at all. Lying creates trust craters. I'm going to get biblical, but it's the foundation of my life. 1 Corinthians 13:6; Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
   Love protects. Even a child can understand that their father loves them, so he will protect them from the monsters under the bed.Or the boogie man in the closet. Or as a young lady, they know that when her heart gets broken someone's face is going to get broken. Or the knowledge that a best friend has got your back through thick and thin. That's love.
   Love trusts. Always. I heard a story about a man and woman who had been married for a lifetime. The woman had no secrets with the man except for a shoe box. She told him to never look inside it, and respectively he didn't. The woman became very ill in her old age, she told the man to go into the closet and bring the box to her. Even with the box in his hand, the man never opened the box. He trusted and loved her so much that he gave her that one little box that for decades he never knew the contents.
   Love is hopeful. Period. love is hopeful.
   Love perseveres. Don't give up on love. When you really love someone you don't quit at the first sign of trouble. You fight like crazy. You do whatever it takes to keep that love alive. No matter how hard it is to keep the flame, or how much you don't want to love them. Love is inevitable. You can't fight it. Once you accept that fact, you fight like crazy to get it back, to perfect it so to speak.
  Love never fails. It's never a bad thing to love people. In the end love is the only way. The only way to break barriers. The only way to move pass disagreements. When in doubt, love.
   Love is vulnerable. I know for me I shutter at the word. To love someone, you have to be vulnerable with them. I'm talking to myself on this one. It takes every fiber of my being to be even slightly vulnerable with anyone. It's that step, that leap of faith, that is love.
It's all of these minor things that add up to be love. It's all of these things that create the image of God's face. It's all of these things that are the puzzle pieces of life. Love is fearless, patient selfless, humble, truthful. Love protects and trusts. Love is hopeful. It perseveres and never fails. Love is vulnerable. Love is the face of God.