‘Words cannot convey how much I love you. Since the moment I met you, I knew I was going to love you till the day I die’. These and many other sweet lines are heard at the onset of every relationship. They say, ‘When we met, there was this chemistry.’ How else can I explain chemistry? I think you can do better (smiles).

The trend of love and lovers in this dispensation is so disturbing. Barely two months into the relationship, the sweet lines turn sour. Then, you would hear statements like, ‘I cursed the day I met you. I regret falling in love with you’. Is it easy to ‘unlove’ someone you love? Why does ‘chemistry’ go into exile so soon? Was the feeling wrong initially? Is it that one of the partners is unlovable? Or could it be that it was never love from the onset? Or is love simply overrated?

There are religious and ideological perspectives on the idea of love. While Christians will say that God is love, the Greek believe love exist in many categories, including:

The Greeks explained this as a selfless and limitless kind of love. It is simply put as unconditional love. This kind of love has no bounds, rules, or even flaws. This can be likened to the Christian perspective of love (from God).

This kind of love is named after the Greek god of love and fertility. It explains the romantic kind of love that can be characterized by physical attraction and sexual desire.

The Greeks use this to explain the kind of love that is best described as ‘Platonic Love’—shown without sexual acts or tendencies. You can call it ‘Affectionate Love’.

The Greeks explained this as “self-love.” Though this can easily be misconstrued as self-centeredness and self-interest, this kind of love is all about loving yourself and and then extending the love to others. This is simply validating the saying, ‘You can’t give what you don’t have.

The Greek explains this as ‘Familiar Love’. This kind of love is said to arise as a result of a shared or familiar quality among people. In this kind of love, there is no physical or sexual attraction. For instance, when we share the same political ideology,,.

The Greeks call this ‘enduring love’. Unlike romantic love,, which is always temporary and ceases after romantic needs are met, enduring love stands the test of time through thick and thin.

The Greeks describe this as ‘playful love’.. This was used to explain the ‘high’ feeling or act at the onset of a romance. I would call it the ‘initial or preceding gragra’ of almost every romantic relationship.

The Greeks use this to explain “obsessive ‘love’. Though this is not supposed to be a kind of love, this best describes a kind of love that turned into obsession and resulted in anger and jealousy.

The Christian and Greek perspectives on love got my attention. Have you wondered what John 3:16 meant? ‘For God so LOVE the world that He gave His ONLY begotten son..’ There is just one thing that this love reflects: being sacrificial!

Is love unnecessarily painted to look like what it is not? Are there sacrifices that are too big as far as love is concerned? What does it mean to love unconditionally? Can we genuinely love without conditions and limitations? Do I owe my partner a kind of love that belittles their shortcomings?

Find out more in our new book, ‘Beyond Romance.