There are many ways to identify what the word “love” means. To love is to be known. To love is to be intentional. To love is to make a sacrifice. Right? But maybe there’s even more to it than just that.

Over the past 19 years of my life, I’ve concluded on this: true love is enough. The way our society is right now, there are so many protests and groups discriminating against how love is “supposed” to function. Everyone has these ridiculously high expectations on how and why they want to be loved, but when it boils down to it, isn’t it all the same type of love?

Love is not casual. Love is real, and love is kind.

Given the past 15 years or so, starting in September, I’m sure I speak for everyone when I say people have been more on guard than they ever have been. More so recently, the past year or two have really taught people how to be on guard; how to not only defend themselves but to put up boundaries for themselves and their families as well.

This past week with the shootings in Dallas, Minneapolis, and the incident in Nice, Paris, has not only scared people, but it also made them question what love is. People feel neglected. Hurt. Distrusted. Heartbroken. There are thousands of questions, concerns, and thoughts regarding love. Is love evident in today's world? Is love even here? Is love missing?

To be completely honest, it makes me nervous to raise my future children in today’s culture. How do we explain concepts like murder, terrorism and bombings to them? How do we love them endlessly but still keep them safe?

There is a “time to weep and a time to laugh” (Ecclesiastes 3:4) and right now it’s a time to weep. The book of Ecclesiastes reminds us how there is a time for everything. There’s a time to celebrate, and a time to mourn. People need to mourn together. People need a shoulder to cry on. People need each other.

It should be reassuring and encouraging to know that people were made to be social. People were made to cling to each other. It’s okay to love because God first loved us.

We were made to have relationships. I think a lot of people tend to forget that, myself included. Each individual was made to know others, and in a time like this, we should be grieving with each other. What is restricting us from uniting and embracing each other?

Are there insecurities in the way? Is there fear in the way?

1^st John 4:18 says, “But there is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear.” With how much fear and anxiety that comes with life, I think we should try our absolute hardest to remember this verse and everything that comes along with it. How miraculous is it that perfect love drives out fear, even amidst the hardest times?