Typically, when someone asks me the question “Do you believe in love at first sight?” I gawk and chuckle as the words “definitely not” slip from my mouth.  However, in light of the assignment, I mulled over the question long enough to contradict myself: I must believe in ‘love at first sight’ because I daily claim to love people I have never met.  Loving God characteristically builds love for others regardless of acquaintance.  Love abounds the moment one’s eyes meet his or her child, and compassion may fill one’s heart at the sight of tragic scene.  I cannot deny the love that prompts compassion for those around me, but I will deny the cliché of meeting someone and immediately “falling in love.”

One cannot love without a proper amount of knowledge and understanding—one does not somehow accidentally stumble into love—love requires action, discipline, and cultivation.  Attractions spark interests that may lead to love, but love cannot survive on attraction alone.  Love grows through experiences, through memories, and through forgiveness.  Love manifests itself in devotion when the ‘feelings’ of love disappear, and love conquers the fears leading up to the absence of feelings.  The definition of love quoted from I Corinthians 13 demands situations which test love and I do not believe one could experience the depth of that kind of love the moment he or she looks upon another human being for the first time.

God radically manifested His love through Christ knowing exactly how the world would react—He did not do so blindly.  Love examines the heart of another and chooses to dwell regardless of what he or she knows is present; love is an action that transcends a moment of introductory intrigue.