An ancient Hebrew text says," Love is as strong as death." It seems that not everyone experiences this kind of strong love. The increase in poverty, crime and war tells us that the world is in desperate need of true love. But what is true love? Love is something we all need but how do we know when we’ve experienced it? True love is best seen as devotion and action, not an emotion. Love is not exclusively based on how we feel. Certainly our emotions are involved, but they cannot be our only criteria for love.

古希伯来语中有这么一句话：“爱如死般坚强。”显然不是每个人都能体验到如此浓烈的深爱，在我们的生存之地，贫穷在扩散，罪恶在曼延，战争在涂炭生灵。这一切都表明，世界迫切需要真爱。但到底什么才是真爱呢? 人们渴求爱，但我们怎样才可以确信我们体验到了它的存在呢?真爱应该是一种奉献精神，是一种胜过言语的奉献行为，而不是仅仅建筑在我们感觉上的一种激情。爱当然离不开激情，但那绝不是我们衡量爱的唯一标准。

True love is when you care enough about another person that you would lay down your life for them. When this happens, then love true is "as strong as death". How many of you have a mother or father, husband or wife,son or daughter or friend who would sacrifice his or her own life for yours? Those of you who true love your spouse and children would unselfishly lay your life on the line to save them from death. Many people, in emergency rooms with their loved ones have prayed, "please God, take me instead of them." Find true love, and be a true lover as well. May you find the love which is not only stronger than death but which leads to a truly fulfilling life.

真爱到来时，你可以为心爱的人舍弃生命，为之而死。爱到如此壮烈才称得上是“爱如死般坚强”啊!我们当中有多少人的父母，丈夫或妻子，儿子或女儿，朋友愿意为爱人牺牲自己的生命?只有深切关爱家人和孩子的人们，才会毫不犹豫地舍弃自己的生命，以挽救在死亡线上挣扎的亲人。我们当中又有多少人在爱人垂死的病榻前同心祈祷：“上帝啊，用我的生命换回他们吧!” 寻求真爱，同时也成为真心的爱人吧!祝你的真爱不仅“爱如死般坚强”，而且更能为你指引一条充满真爱的人生之路。

（兼职编辑：杨帆）