You see, love is everywhere, or at least we think it is. The media has flooded us with untold numbers of chick flicks, romance novels, and mushy gushy songs, not to mention all the "What kind of Girlfriend are you? and What's Your Perfect Type?" quizzes that we find in magazines these days. We are overstimulated with the massive amounts of 'love' that's being pumped into our society. This has drastic effects on people as a whole. With every movie we watch and every book we read our view on love changes. We begin to have expectations of what love should and should not be. The problem now is that these expectations are false. Chick flicks give us a condensed version of love that takes us on an adventure from the chance meeting to falling for you then the big break up happens and finally we get a happy ending. That my friends is not how it is in real life. Some relationships don't work out, and others don't have a big break up caused by a bet both people in the relationship made for a job (hint hint, How to Loose a Guy in 10 Days). No they are far more complicated than that and the warped version of love the world is pouring into us has begun to change our mindsets. Don't you ever wonder why so many relationships fail and so many couples get divorced? I'd have to say a good deal of it has to do with our skewed vision on what love is. We have expectations of our relationships that just simply cannot be met and when they aren't things fall apart very quickly.
Lately God has began to show me all the places in my own life that I have these kind of preconceptions and I feel that He is asking me to dedicate February to allow Him to teach me what love is and all about it. Not only will I let Him teach me about love but I want to allow Him to take away the stereotypes that have built up in my mind. How am I going to do this? I am going to completely avoid watching romantic movies, reading chick lit, and listening to romantic songs. Basically I'm planning to remove myself from the realm of media induced romance. Now I'm not saying that I'm giving up personal relationships that would be silly. I am just trying to distance myself from anything that will influence my worldview of love.
I want to challenge each and everyone reading this to do the same. I believe that if you do then God will work greatly in your life over the month of February. If you are thinking about doing this but still have questions check the Love Challenge 2013 page on this blog or click here. I have a summery of what I've written here, a list of do's and don'ts a list of frequently asked questions, (or questions I think may be frequently asked...) and a few other things. I'd love to hear from you if you decide to take the Love Challenge. If you have any stories about love and what God's doing for you from the challenge you want to share you can e-mail me at thelovechallange2013@hotmail.com and I will love to hear them! I'd also like to post them throughout February on the blog so if you want them posted just tell me and I'll put it up. I can do it anonymously or using any name you give me, whichever you wish.
I hope you all decide to take the Love Challenge this February and are greatly blessed for it!
God Bless!
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