Laureate Love: "GOD Loves Me"

The first of the five types of love to examine is termed ‘Laureate Love’. Webster’s dictionary defines laureate as, “worthy of greatest distinction and honor.” Laureate Love transcends the other four types. This love deserves the most attention and requires the most effort. It depicts love as an action and a behavior. It represents love as unconditional, unlike Objective, Vicarious, Emotional, and Relative Love.

The definition of Laureate Love is rooted in the Greek word, agape. It is the love indicated in the frequently recited Scripture, "For GOD so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life."

It is a sacrificial, divine, perfect love. We see it in the wife who forgives her husband for infidelity and continues to be faithful to him. It is visible in the husband whose wife is terminally ill and who quits his job to become an unofficial full time nurse, willingly facing poverty once she is gone.

Laureate Love is devotion expressed through actions. This love is something men and women do, not something they only say and feel. Laureate Love is able to love the unlovable. It is a love that says not, "I love you because of", but "I love you in spite of."

Laureate Love gives without expecting anything in return. If the exchange of love was consistently based on give and take, as in business, turmoil over who did the most and who deserves more would end up being the totality of the interaction. This brand of measured trading works well with trading equities in the stock market, but less so in relationships.

Laureate Love practices forgiveness. Since everyone makes mistakes, everyone needs forgiveness. Imagine a wife's love dissipating every time a husband forgot to take out the trash as promised. Few marriages would last. Fortunately, Laureate Love involves forgiveness as well as patience, kindness, the absence of envy, humility, lack of rudeness, giving, preferring right to wrong, honesty, protection, trust, hope, and endurance.

Laureate Love reflects a choice. Men and women can choose to do something for their significant other, or they can choose not to. It is natural for individuals to think of themselves first and unnatural to put others first. This is why Laureate Love requires a committed, conscious decision to take a certain action. It means choosing to focus energy and effort for the benefit of others rather than self.

Making Laureate Love a priority can dramatically improve any relationship. The best expression of Laureate Love is quality time. Life lasts for a limited amount of time, so time is a gift that can’t be replaced. This love is about giving focused attention as the best way to express love for another. Laureate Love should be the centerpiece for all relationships whether between lovers, friends, family, and, one could argue, even enemies.