It has been proved that getting to know a person by talking to him/her either on phone, at a club, working place, home or school before establishing a relationship, is not the best way to be in love with him/her.
Though relationships should begin with good communication, honesty and respect, yet being in love is just a pointer to that special chance which you have to know someone, with whom to share your thoughts and feelings.
For one to be in love, there are five signs to watch out for, and they are: 1.
Do You Love God? - Loving God more than oneself is the whole duty of man.
It is God is to be part of the eternal, incomprehensible, almighty love of God - the love of God to His Son, that of the Son to us, the one with which we love the Son, the one with which we, in obedience to His command, love the brethren, and try to show same to all men and win them for Christ.
It is the power of the Godhead, in the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
It is the possession of all who are members of the body of Christ, and streams forth from them to take the whole world within its compass.
The glory of God in heaven is that He has a will to be and do all that is good.
That includes the two meanings of the word good: good - all that is right and perfect, and; good - all that makes one happy.
The God who wills nothing but good is a God of love.
He does not seek His own: He does not live for Himself, but pours out His love on all living creatures.
All created things share in this, to the end that they may be satisfied with that which is good.
One of the characteristics of love is that it seeks not her own, but finds happiness in giving to others.
In that same way, God offered Himself to mankind in the person of His Son, and the Son offered Himself upon the cross to bring that same message to men, in order to win their hearts.
2.
Do You Love Yourself? - This is not the emotion we have for something or someone; it is the choice we make to suffer for that someone.
When we hear that God is love, it then means that by the power through which He rules and guides the world, is embedded the power of an undying persistent love.
God knows what that means and so works through the hearts and spirits and wills of men and women who are wholly yielded to Him and His service.
He waits for them to open their hearts to Him in that same way, and then, full of courage, to become witnesses for Him.
If this is not revealing in our own nature, then we cannot love another.
The implantation of this in us by God is what helps us to love ourselves, and our neighbours with the same equal amount.
3.
Do You Love Your Neighbour? - Christianity teaches us that the third sign to watch out in our relationship with others is our ability to love our neighbours because God loves them.
Every man, howsoever vile, has a share in God's compassion because he is made in God's image.
I ought, then, to love my neighbour not merely because he is a fellow-man, but because I see God's likeness in him, and because God loves him.
As God loves all men, even His enemies, even so - not more, nor less - I must love all.
4.
Do You Love Unconditionally? - The love of Christ, manifested in His death on the cross, is not only the ground of our hope of salvation, but it is the only rule for our daily life and conduct.
In the realm of grace, God has reconciled us to Himself so that He can apportion to us His personal love.
This is the law for each child of God; he must love his brother with the same way that Christ has loved him, unconditionally.
5.
Do You Love Sacrificially? - Love that is worthy of its name manifests itself in a life of continual self-sacrifice.
It can never achieve its purpose without sacrificing for the good of another.
The last and the highest thought or sign of love is rooted in this thing called sacrifice.
That means that as God's own children, we should behave the same way as Christ, who in His great love redeemed a world dying in misery and sin.
You and I, who have received this, should give ourselves, even as Christ did, love all men, and devote our lives to making others partakers of this great blessedness.
Friend, these are the five (5) signs, with divine authority, and irresistible power, which compel us to manifest Christ's love towards our brethren in fullness of its beauty.
When our Lord was confronted with the question of which is the great commandment in the law, He answered: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart".
He later added that the second is like unto it, "You shall love your neighbour as yourself".
May God write this royal law of love deep in our hearts!