As individuals we aren’t normally taught how to love, except at church where we learn to love ourselves and others equally. In many cases we find ourselves falling in love anyway. In fact, it’s usually unnatural not to fall in love from time to time. Love plays a very important role in our lives. Some people might say it keeps us sane, while others might say it keeps us happy. Both statements are true, but we all know that nothing comes easily, just like the stories we read about in The Bible.

There is this saying that priests, deacons, and bishops usually tell the congregation, which is that people are unique. No one can do things or interpret things exactly like another person. When I was preparing for confirmation in 2008, I was taught that it’s not a sin to fall in love with a person. Before getting that lesson I always thought dating was a sin…

I agree with the fact that none of us who were there that day took the lesson in the same manner. A couple of months later I started dating. It felt good to love a person in a romantic way for the first time. Apparently a few months down the line, I started cheating. The number of girlfriends I had grew each and every month. When I was cheating on these girls I had no guilt, because I was telling myself, I’m giving them love.

As males, we often develop big egos. An ego can ruin everything for a person if he lets it take over his life. My ego took over my life and I found myself forgetting the reason I started dating in the first place, which was to give love and respect to the other person. During Sunday mass the priest would sometimes preach about marriage, saying it’s a gift. When he would say this I often visualized myself being married, which is a good thing, except I didn’t picture myself marrying any of my girlfriends.

On the 26th of December 2009, one of my girlfriends borrowed my phone. I gave it to her, but when she was scrolling through it checking for music, she found a folder which had all the information about each girl I dated at the time. I didn’t know that she would find it, but she did, making sure she would be my one and only girl from that day on. Many people were hurt by my actions. The moment I saw one of my girlfriends crying, tears streaming down her face, I started questioning myself. What kind of love brings pain and sorrow to a person’s life? People always say that true love is the kind of love which overcomes many obstacles, which is true, provided these obstacles are unintentional.

How can you say you love someone and intentionally hurt them? I don’t think that’s love anymore.

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Tell us: Have you ever misinterpreted an idea or done something you regret? How did you deal with that situation?