Love and Sacrifice

I love reading as everyone knows and now that I am done with my Master's degree, I actually have time! I have been reading Karen Kingsbury's book, "Ever After" and a part of it really stuck out to me. There is a wedding that takes place in the story and the bride and groom exchanged vows that they had written. I loved the part in the vows that talked about love and sacrifice from 1 Corinthians 13. From there, my mind started racing with a ton of questions...

1) What is love? (Here's my favorite definition and it's from 1 Corinthians 13)
THE MEANING OF AGAPE

The Greek word that is used in 1 Corinthians 13 for love (agape), is a word that simply means "the ultimate act of self- sacrifice." It is a word which refers to the ultimate act of sacrificing oneself for the good of someone else. In fact, 1 Corinthians 13:1 could easily be translated the following way: "If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not a spirit of self-sacrifice, I am nothing."

2) Does love require sacrifice?

To me, absolutely. We can say we love something, but I think at that point the word "love" means something completely different if it doesn't involve the ability or desire to sacrifice oneself. I think that when someone can truly say they would be willing to sacrifice himself for the good or betterment of someone they love, then you know the love is agape love--unconditional, neverending, exceeding all limits.

Sacrificial love. It goes beyond beauty. Beyond brains or status. Beyond age.