How do I know if he really loves me?

Talk is cheap! It is much easier to tell someone you love them than it is to actually demonstrate that love by your actions. Think about how we throw around the term love; "I love ice cream." "I just love that new movie." "Don't you love Brad Pitt?" "I love you."

Hopefully there are different shades of meaning to the word love when you use it. But just to be clear on which hue applies to your relationship, I think it's always good to examine actions. 

To quote a popular verse from the Bible, "Love suffers long (is patient) and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." (1 Corinthians 13:4-7). Nowhere in this description is love described as a feeling or a kind word. It's the actions that count!

Try this one on for size: insert the name of your boyfriend, girlfriend, or spouse in those statements and see how it sounds... Kind of eye-opening isn't it? While no one could ever truly measure up to that but God Himself, it does provide a good measuring tool to assess whether your potential (or actual) mate sincerely loves you with an unselfish, unconditional love. And, for that matter, whether you are demonstrating that  love to him or her!

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