"We don't know love like we should" - Lauryn Hill

Eman The Messenger
Jan 20, 2021
3 min read

Updated: Mar 16, 2021

What's up Messengers?

I'm back with a new and very short blog post to get us thinking and growing. Lauryn Hill many years back said something quite interesting. She said, "we don't know love like we should". What did she mean by that? In context to the whole video interview, she was addressing how diluted love has become in our society today and how love tends to have a condition attached to it.

But is love really love when a condition is attached?

Maybe it's just me, but I think quite often about how we have mistaken infatuation for love. Infatuation isn't a bad thing, but when we mix it's definition with something as sacred as love we cease to truly love.

Love is a call,

infatuation is a feeling.

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails..." - 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

According to the quote above, love seems to be a driving force that is completely opposite to how we may feel over given moments and periods:

In order to be patient there has to be something we'd rather not bear with.

In order to be kind there has to be a situation where kindness isn't the first "logical" option.

In order to not envy there has to be a "feeling" of insecurity that causes envy in the first place

In order to not boast there has to be a potential display of pride or ego

In order to not be proud there has to be a celebration of others above self, which we don't always like to do

In order to not dishonor others there has to be a controntation of how we see their identity, even when they act contrary

In order to not be self-seeking there has to be sacrifice and admittance that we are accountable for affecting other people

In order to not be easily angered there has to be a pressure that would trigger us to anger

In order to keep no record of wrongs there has to be wrongs that have been done to us

In order to protect there has to be an attack

In order to trust there has to be a risk

In order to hope there has to be incompletion

In order to perservere there has to be opposition

In order to never fail there has to be a fight to succeed

THIS IS LOVE

So in order to love, we have to go against our impulses, and therefore love is tried and tested, not moments or feelings. Anyone can love when it's easy. Even bad people do that for those close to them. But in the words of Jesus I end:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you..."

and again,

"If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much."

Final Remarks

"'I have unconditional love'. Unconditional love, we don't even know it, because when a person stops stimulating us, we stop loving them. 'You're not interesting to talk to anymore, goodbye...'" - Lauryn Hill

Link to the Lauryn Hill "Love Speech"! CLICK HERE