"I'll Love You Forever!"

I'm a girl.

No really...I am. Why are you laughing...? Think about it. I say this, because sometimes I do stupid girl things, and then I write about it on my blog. :-P I was wondering today if any of you (the people who actually read this) have ever been in an abusive relationship. Before you answer, though, I would like to point out that you can be verbally, mentally, and emotionally abused as well as physically. Have you ever found yourself in a relationship (whether it be romantic, friendly, or familial [man I hope that's a real word...]) where you give every bit of strength you have to remain loyal, helpful, and amusing, yet problem after problem arose where you were the bad guy and the other the victim? Why is it that some people attach themselves so strongly to everyone, even when they know that they will never receive even close to the amount of "love" they have given? For so long, I have wondered if they were wrong to do this, or if it is "just the way they are". Let me post two passages that always seem to give me a hard time whenever I think this way. The one in Proverbs is contextually referring to the "forbidden woman", but verses ten and eleven seem to be applicable to more than that. Please, tell me if I'm erring there.

Proverbs 5:7-17

"And now, O sons, listen to me, and do not depart from the words of my mouth. Keep your way far from her, and do not go near the door of her house, lest you give your honor to others and your years to the merciless, lest strangers take their fill of your strength, and your labors go to the house of a foreigner, and at the end of your life you groan, when your flesh and body are consumed, and you say, "How I hated discipline, and my heart despised reproof! I did not listen to the voice of my teachers or incline my ear to my instructors. I am at the brink of utter ruin in the assembled congregation." Drink water from your own cistern, flowing water from your own well. Should your springs be scattered abroad, streams of water in the streets? Let them be for yourself alone, and not for strangers with you."

This is talking more about a marital thing, but does it not also apply to the emotions and mentality that go along with it? I know for a fact that you can be married to someone all but physically. It's been proven to me. This seems to suggest to me that there is a point at which you stop giving. I am confused at this, however. Where is that point? If someone treats you wrongly, the common attitude today is one of "Oh, let it go. If they are going to treat me badly, I'm not going to stick around. I don't care any more." I agree with the not sticking around part, but aren't we to still care? Maybe I'm confused about the different types of love? It seems to me, however, that if you love your neighbor as yourself, there shouldn't be much of a difference between the self-denying love in a marriage and the self-sacrificing love in a friend. Is there ever a point where we are not to love or SHOW love to someone?? This brings up another passage in my mind.

I Corinthians 13:1-8a

"Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love. I am a noisy gong, or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.***Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; It does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love BEARS all things, BELIEVES all things, HOPES all things, ENDURES all things. LOVE NEVER ENDS.***

Half the people I've talked to say it is wrong to wear your heart on your sleeve, and that one must have discretion. I believe they are right about discretion, but I cannot stand "fakeness". Why can't someone "wear their heart on their sleeve?" I don't mean going around constantly yapping about what you believe (Proverbs calls that a fool). I mean when interacting with people, telling them the truth. Not saying everything can be good sometimes, but asking a question you don't genuinely want the answer to, or pretending to be interested in someone when you're not really bugs me. If you have any answers or insight to this rambling post, please post them. It would be greatly appreciated!! Sorry for the length. ^_^

*~FUR~*

Proverbs 31:30

"Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law."

-Romans 13:8