Meaning of it

I woke up this morning thinking about people who have hurt me that I once loved, people I love now and this lead me to considering what that word really means. We say " I love you. " so many times, so simply but when we say this to someone what do those four letters contain in them? What is the structure we hold ourselves to when we communicate this to someone?

I have read a few different religious texts, the bible being among them. One of my favorite verses is Corinthians 13: 4-8

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 

It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 

 Love never fails.

I think this fills out the meaning at least for me. Being "in love" with someone feels amazing, it releases all kinds of endorphins into the brain and the body. But feeling good I think should be a by product of what the emotions for this person should require of us. It is not enough to say "I love you." often or sing sonnets in your heart in some dreamy romantic image we have of great love. Real love, grounded, long lasting, a state someone else can rely on love I think must come from the same place that caring for a sick child does, or a sick parent. It must come from a place where loyalty to those words means we set aside anything that is not loyal to them (and by this I don't mean sacrificing yourself to someone in ways of being injured or belittled, ignored, cheated on or anything they might do that does not speak of love.). What I am saying is my belief is those words, that one word, must be more than sweet nothings whispered in someone's ear. By your saying this to them they have to know through how you demonstrate the meaning of these words that they are loved, they are safe to be who they are in their totality, that you will not lash out to defend your ego, that you will not see them as an enemy, that you can in fact be trusted without reserve.

I admit I am imperfect, I stumble, I feel my own rejection or fear of judgments and I can lash out (admitting when you have done someone an injustice is part of the loyalty to that word), but I tend to require of myself that I be loyal to my love and to the meaning I would place on it. I don't throw the word around haphazardly, I don't  immediately jump in when it begins to stir either. If you have read anything here you know that love casts its own shadows in my mind. I suppose I woke up this morning with a  hope that I might always be able to demonstrate the meaning despite the shadows cast. I suppose I woke up with the desire lit in me to pour out that meaning onto the people I say it to that they might feel it was a beautiful thing to have my love.