I came up with writing this article when I was pondering and wondering what I should write about . I Goggled this subject and found a lot of articles that were written with the same title, however I decided to go ahead and write, as I felt compelled to give my views on this topic

In my humble opinion I believe in this day and age the most used and abused word is love. I have come to this conclusion as I hear it being said for everything you want and need, example. I love those shoes or I love a pizza.

So what is the word love and why has it become a part of our general vocabulary? Why is it used so frequently?. I believe that we have not found another word in the English language for word love. This is the stumbling block and the reason we cannot differentiate between the real meaning of the word love and our likes, needs and wants like the pizza or shoes.

What does the word Love really mean? I am not going into the history of the word, but according to me the word love is an expression of a deep and burning desire to be acknowledged, understood, cherished, protected, shielded, and embraced so that nothing can harm the person you are expressing the emotion of love to and wanting the same emotions to be returned.

However love comes in many forms. It could be the love you have for your spouse, children, siblings, friends, relatives and your neighbor. I feel that love has different levels,degrees and depth. This emotion you feel for people, places and things varies. You know what maternal or paternal love is, and this instinct or emotion is also found in the animal kingdom. A mother will protect her child no matter what the cost even if it means sacrificing her life.

So if you use the word without any depth or just use it as lip service you are using the word to fool, deceive or make use another human being. Then you are abusing the word. So if you tell your companion that you love them and really do not mean it then you are using this word to take advantage of the other.

The Greek language has different words to express the different degrees of love, however since we do not have that in English we use the word love for everything. This I feel is the real reason why we abuse the word love, as we do not have any other word or way of expressing our feelings.

Where do you see the real meaning of the word enacted. I say God showed us the real meaning of this word " Agape" which in Greek or the greatest and deepest meaning of the word love,as he sent His son, whom he loved dearly to be crucified for us and all our misdeeds or sins.Would we be able to do that, knowingly send your child in harm's way and that too a miserable death on the cross. I think not.

History has given us lessons of martyrs who have died because of their love for God. I have heard of stories where people have put themselves in harms way to help another human being. These people know love and are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice.

Charles Dickens in his novel A Tale of Two Cities, quotes a phrase from the bible and I really feel that it is a true meaning of love. This is what was written, as the poignant last line: Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down one's life for his friends.