Being "in love" is a rare treasure. For the purposes of this post, I'd like to define the term "in love" as that sweet emotion that causes a very pleasant but otherwise normal member of the opposite sex to be set apart and cherished more than any of the other perfectly pleasant people of said opposite sex. It is that feeling that in some special circumstances leads many to pledge their eternal love to another without giving it a second thought. This, I think is a good thing and is of course in keeping with the nature of love's passion...after all, shouldn't we be emotional about such an intense and powerful thing as love?
But we must not confuse the emotion produced by love with love itself. As we have seen in so many circumstances where the "I do's" become "I don'ts" this mistake can have disastrous consequences . So I now respond to the question from the last post:
I would say that this emotion we are referring to now as being "in love" usually is manifested at the point we vow our love to another and certainly may exist and flourish in many other moments of the romantic journey...even remaining for an extended period of time... and I furthermore, would add that through hard work this "in love" state could possibly remain for a lifetime. I pray as much for my own sweet relationship. However, we must keep in mind the marital promise made to "have and to hold" for a lifetime...a promise that should be kept even if we cease to experience that euphoric feeling. As we all know, we cannot control how we feel and I can only make and keep promises in the areas of my life that I can control. Therefore, I cannot promise to always feel a certain way...for instance to never feel sick to my stomach...or never to feel hot or cold...to always feel happy...or to always be in love. So while being in love is a great thing...certainly a noble thing...it is not necessarily the best thing because we may or may not "feel" this way all the time.
Loving because you will to do so and have developed the habit over a period of time is a far nobler attribute and is strengthened by the grace of God...for a lifetime. But these are not my original thoughts...if you'd like to study further, I refer you to C.S. Lewis' book "Mere Christianity". Read his short chapter entitled "Christian Marriage". I found it incredibly enlightening and encouraging as I walk this beautiful journey of love with Kathy.