No Sacrifice in Love

I am a child of the 80’s and 90’s. There is no separating that from me. I will always have references for movies and bands that go back to this time period. I am marked by the influx of knowledge and insight gained from wonderful pieces of art. The magic of the Jurassic Park soundtrack will resound in my heart until the day I die…I can still get lost in the wonder of E.T. As cheesy as the old Batman movies are, I grew up enthralled by them.

You know what I really love about movies, especially from that time period? I have always appreciated the love stories. There is something that so connects with me in the triumph of love over all other odds. The depiction of a man giving up things he so cherishes to win over the girl he wants to cherish even more…that makes movie magic! What person with even the smallest romantic bone in their body doesn’t long to be in that story?

It is a story whose theme was written onto our hearts before we ever had a chance to deny it.

I think about this story a lot, because I look forward to entering into the details of the story I am in. As I think about it, a simple thought:

There is no sacrifice in Love.

Do people give up things for the sake of love? Yes. Do they accept hardship for the chance at love? Yes. Are most lives only made harder by the implications of pursuing love? YES! And despite all that, I will tell you there is no sacrifice in love. The reason I say this is because the reward of “sacrifice” has no value in light of Love. To be able to claim you have sacrificed is to claim some pride of your efforts and energy to attain something. While usually noble, the act of sacrifice gains you a level of respect; that is your reward.

In Love, everything is different. For true love…love itself is the reward. Sacrifice only happens when the benefits of sacrifice are in play…and while not specifically self-serving…there is tremendous personal gain in sacrifice. While the fires of sacrifice run red-hot…the passion and zeal that come from the fire of love burns white hot…and smokes away all pride and personal gain…and leaves you with only one true treasure…Love itself.

A person can give all they have, all the wealth of the world if needed, for the sake of gaining love. In this very act, any outsider would look upon the situation and call it great sacrifice. The one who gains love, however, would look upon their situation and claim all that was “sacrificed” was done so in light of love, and nothing of any real value was lost…in light of love.

True love, the big “L” type of love, is a reward so big; it is unable to be paired with any other. No man could claim he gained love “and.” To have any other prize is to highlight an inability to appreciate the true Prize at its truest value.