"Love wasn't put in your heart to stay. Love isn't love until you give it away"

Love is a force that grows through action and connection, not something meant to be hoarded or hidden away. When Michael W. Smith suggests that love “wasn't put in your heart to stay,” he points to the idea that love is not a static possession, but rather a dynamic energy requiring movement and expression. To treat love as something merely to be held within, never shared or acted upon, runs counter to its true nature and purpose. Love is transformative only when translated from internal feeling to outward deed.

By claiming, “Love isn't love until you give it away,” the quote challenges the notion that love can exist in isolation. Simply feeling affection or care is incomplete; love fully realizes itself in the way it is offered to others, through kindness, compassion, and selflessness. The act of loving, giving, helping, supporting, forgiving, gives love its meaning and substance. Generosity with our love affirms our connections to one another, reminding us that humanity flourishes in bonds of reciprocal care.

Moreover, giving love doesn't diminish us; paradoxically, it replenishes and enriches. Those who allow themselves to love outwardly often find their own experience deepened, a ripple effect where joy multiplies and loneliness dissipates. Holding back love can lead to isolation, regret, or a life devoid of true connection, while sharing it leads to growth, understanding, and fulfillment.

Smith’s words encourage embracing vulnerability, for giving love involves risk: rejection, disappointment, or loss. Yet only by taking this risk can love achieve its highest purpose, bringing people together, healing wounds, and inspiring hope. Ultimately, love’s greatest value lies in its capacity to move beyond the boundary of one heart and ignite change in the world around us. In loving others, our hearts find the freedom and purpose they were made for.