What is Love?

In our society the word "love" is thrown around like it's going out of style.  After one week of being in a relationship, most teenagers are posting facebook statuses that say, "Oh. My. Gosh. I LOVE HIM!!"  I can't gelp but ask the question, for how long do you plan on loving him??  Then you have other people who are so scared of the sacred "L" word, that they don't tell anyone they love them, what kind of life is that?  We all need a little love, we are humans made in God's image and if God is love, wouldn't that mean we need love in our lives?  Now the question is, what is love?  Is it really just a mere feeling or action, or is there more to love than that?  A friend of mine, Anna, said that love is "‎1,Knowing that someone isn't perfect, but loving them anyway, and 2, Loving them enough to follow God's plan for what happens between you and the other person, instead of what you want."  For both parts of her statement, we can use this love in marriage, friendships, family, etc.  For teenagers, "puppy love" is oh so common, all you can see is that person and everything good about them, they have no flaws, and are just the perfect person for you.  In marriage, I'm sure after awhile you find your spouses faults rather quickly after you say "I do", but when you have your first argument do you just leave them?  I would hope not!  No, if you really love them you stay and settle your differences by talking and coming to an agreement.  In friendships, it often works the same way.  My best friend Emily and I recently had our first fight, we talked about what happened and turned out someone misunderstood the other.  Sure we were mad at each other for a couple days, but that didn't make us "not friends" anymore, we worked it out.  With family, knowing from a lot of experience, this can take a lot of practice.  When people, especially family or super close friends, let you down it hurts. C.S. Lewis said "Anger is the fluid love bleeds when you cut it."  However, when people hurt you, you can use the experience to your advantage.  If you put a lot of faith in just one person, or a group of persons, you will always be setting yourself up for a letdown.  For the second part of Anna's statement, when you really love someone you will listen to God to tell you what to do about/for that other person.  I find this to be more relateable with pre-marriage romantic relationships.  To truely love another person, you have to learn to look out for their best interest, and what God wants for their life.  Love is something you have to work at, I don't believe people just "fall in love" one day, because if you can fall in love you can easily fall right back out, and that's when heartbreak takes hold.  My discription of love would be: 1) A feeling for an object. Example: Oh how I love Dr. Pepper!  2) A feeling you express for another person by: being there for them, always being honest with them, and putting them before yourself.