{"id":1755,"date":"2025-02-12T17:54:50","date_gmt":"2025-02-12T23:54:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/livingyourbestlife60plus.com\/blog\/?p=1755"},"modified":"2025-02-12T17:54:50","modified_gmt":"2025-02-12T23:54:50","slug":"foundational-elements-of-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/livingyourbestlife60plus.com\/blog\/2025\/02\/12\/foundational-elements-of-love\/","title":{"rendered":"Foundational Elements of Love"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Often, we use the word \u201clove\u201d loosely. We tie \u201clove\u201d to a certain food, a coffee brand, a song, a clothing line, and many other things. Then, we use the same word when we refer to people. But love is deeper than things, attraction, or passion. Love is based on foundational elements that allow love to endure through hardship and the ups and downs of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following are reflections on the foundational elements of love:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Respect<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When you value, admire, and esteem others, you respect them. In a love relationship, respect should be mutual. Sometimes, situations arise when respect is tarnished. Then, you have to decide if respect remains intact, or if you should rethink what you know about the person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Honesty<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Many relationships fail because honesty is absent. For love to thrive, we must have the assurance that words and actions are true.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trust<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Can you trust those you love? If not, love is on shaky ground. Trust is a fundamental element of love. When trust is repeatedly broken, love is one-sided or nonexistent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Compromise<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes, love requires compromise. The selfish perspective of always getting your own way must take a back seat, at times, for love to survive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Compassion<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A compassionate heart understands the hurt, distress, anxiety, and fear of others and responds with sympathy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Forgiveness<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Modeled by God, and integral to our lives and faith, is the gift of forgiveness. Because we are human, and sinners, we mess up. It\u2019s a given: we hurt others, and they hurt us. Forgiving allows relationships to heal and forward motion to continue. Without forgiveness, we mire ourselves in resentment and fail to move ahead. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Commitment<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Commitment is the sticktoitiveness that ensures those in relationship aren\u2019t going to run when difficulties arise. Commitment says, \u201cI\u2019m with you for the long haul.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God\u2019s commitment to us never wavers. His covenant of love values, sacrifices, and redeems. He is a firm foundation. God\u2019s love is steadfast, unswerving, and long-suffering. When others disappoint us, God\u2019s love remains unfailing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is your love built on a firm foundation?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is the embodiment of true love: not that we have loved God first, but that He loved us and sent His unique Son on a special mission to become an atoning sacrifice for our sins\u201d (1 John 4:10 VOICE).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n
\n
\"Candy
Candy Arrington<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Candy Arrington is an award-winning writer, blogger, and speaker. She often writes on tough topics with a focus on moving through, and beyond, difficult life circumstances. Candy has written hundreds of articles, stories, and devotions published by numerous outlets including: Inspiration.org, Arisedaily.com, CBN.com, Healthgrades.com, Care.com, Focus on the Family, NextAvenue.org, CountryLiving.com, <\/em>and Writer\u2019s Digest.<\/em> Candy\u2019s books include Life on Pause: Learning to Wait Well <\/em>(Bold Vision Books), When Your Aging Parent Needs Care <\/em>(Harvest House), and AFTERSHOCK: Help, Hope, and Healing in the Wake of Suicide <\/em>(B&H Publishing Group).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To receive Candy\u2019s blog, Forward Motion, <\/em>via email, go to https:\/\/candyarrington.com\/blog\/<\/a> and scroll to the bottom of the page to sign up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Often, we use the word \u201clove\u201d loosely. We tie \u201clove\u201d to a certain food, a coffee brand, a song, a clothing line, and many other things. Then, we use the same word when we refer to people. But love is deeper than things, attraction, or passion. Love is based on foundational elements that allow love…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":1756,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[88,10,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1755","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dating","category-marriage","category-soul"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/livingyourbestlife60plus.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1755","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/livingyourbestlife60plus.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/livingyourbestlife60plus.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/livingyourbestlife60plus.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/livingyourbestlife60plus.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1755"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/livingyourbestlife60plus.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1755\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1758,"href":"https:\/\/livingyourbestlife60plus.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1755\/revisions\/1758"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/livingyourbestlife60plus.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1756"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/livingyourbestlife60plus.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1755"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/livingyourbestlife60plus.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1755"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/livingyourbestlife60plus.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1755"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}