Home and Marriage

What Is Love? What It Is And What It Isn't In Marriage

Lennon Noland Christal Noland Season 1 Episode 33

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What is love—really?

In a culture where love is often defined by feelings, what happens when those feelings fade? In this episode, we take a deeper look at what love actually is and how it’s meant to function in real relationships.

Using the timeless definition found in 1 Corinthians 13, we unpack how love is less about emotion and more about action—choosing patience, kindness, forgiveness, and selflessness even on the hard days.

Through honest conversation and real-life stories from our own marriage, we talk about:

  • Why feelings alone can’t sustain a relationship
  • What to do when you’ve “lost the feeling”
  • How everyday choices shape the health of your marriage
  • Practical ways to love your spouse when it doesn’t come naturally

If your relationship feels strained, disconnected, or just not what it used to be, this episode will help you reset your perspective and take a step toward something stronger.

Because lasting love isn’t built on how you feel—it’s built on how you choose to love.

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Lennon

something interesting just about this classic. One Corinthians 13 passage, you read, it doesn't talk about how love feels at all.

Christal

Mm.

Lennon

It talks about the way that love acts and so what love is, what it does, and what it doesn't do, right. What love is and what love is not. And so it talks about love is if it's describing the actions of a person, the way someone acts, and I think that is incredibly important. This is the Home and Marriage Podcast with Lenin and Crystal Nolan, where we help couples become better at home and stronger together. We are husband and wife, parents and ministers who want God's best for our home and for yours. Well, hello friends. Welcome to the show today. We are glad you're back with us for another episode where we have the privilege of being an encouraging voice in your ear for all things marriage and parenting. So I'm here with my girl, my lover, and my baby's mother. And I have a question for her, honey, have you noticed that our podcast audiences expanding?

Christal

I have noticed, and I'm really excited about our new listeners. We have people. From Ashburn, Virginia, new Orleans, Louisiana, all the way to Ho Chi Minh City in Indonesia. And so if you are a new listener, we just wanna welcome you to the podcast. Thank you for listening and joining us on this journey of home and marriage.

Lennon

The, the city in Indonesia. I, I love saying it because I didn't know it existed until I saw it show up on our, our dashboard. The city is called Tangerang. Yeah,

Christal

I love that.

Lennon

So whoever you are in Tan Ring, welcome friends. We're, we're glad you're with us. And whether you're a new listener or you never miss an episode, something new, uh, in our show notes now, if you go on the show notes through whatever service you listen to. At the top of them, you will see a link that says fan mail. And if you will click on that, you can either text us or you can leave us a voicemail. We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions, episode, ideas for the podcast, any feedback you have, you're devoted to the show. We are devoted to encouraging you and serving you better, so we'd love to hear from you.

Christal

And friends, keep sharing this podcast with your friends and family.'cause we all know someone who needs encouragement in their marriage or in their parenting. I mean, I do every day.

Lennon

Not only are we creating a podcast today, but this morning I listened to a parenting podcast. Yes. With, uh, one of our favorites. Feeding the Mouth. It bites you with Dr. Ken Wilkis and his, his, uh, co-host Sylvia. Great, great show.

Christal

I love that show. I'm learning all the time about how to raise our teenagers. Hey, so today's show, what are we talking about? Linen.

Lennon

So the title of today's episode is What Is Love? What is love?

Christal

What is love? Baby, don't hurt me

Lennon

baby. Baby, don't hurt me no more.

Christal

If you're in that 30 forties and up group, you probably know that song.

Lennon

Let me tell you who does not know that song? A room full of College students at TCU.

Christal

Oh yeah.

Lennon

I was speaking there the other night and I was talking actually along the lines of this subject for people who were dating and, um, I referenced that joke. Wanna talk to you tonight about what is love? Baby, don't hurt me, don't hurt me no more. And the people of a certain age in the room, the staff had a good hearty laugh. Yeah. Students stared at me blankly and uh, not everybody gets the joke.

Christal

Did you sing it or did you just say it?

Lennon

No, I just said it.

Christal

I wonder if they would know if you started singing it.

Lennon

yeah, there'd be other repercussions to me singing it though.

Christal

That's true. You

Lennon

would've distracted them instead of stairs. I would've had a blank room. They would've left.

Christal

They probably would've left. Oh, okay.

Lennon

But what is love? Like?

Christal

Yeah, what is it?

Lennon

yeah, what is love? Because I will tell you something that it's not, if you pay attention to pop culture, uh, it's not dependable. It's not something that necessarily comes and stays. And one of the things that always blows my mind, or at least makes me laugh a little bit, is at the end of a given year, there are always a lists that come out of the biggest celebrity breakups of the previous year.

Christal

It makes you laugh a little bit. That's a, that's sad.

Lennon

It it's sad.

Christal

I mean, I mean, it, it's almost like we all expect it, we all expect it to happen for a lot of celebrity couples, but I get a little sad about it. You know, one that really made me sad.

Lennon

From 2025.

Christal

Yes.

Lennon

Okay. Who was it?

Christal

Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban.

Lennon

Yeah.

Christal

I mean, they were married for almost 20 years, had a daughter, you know, when they first got together, I was like, oh, this is cute, you know? But. I did not expect them to get divorced. I'm sorry.

Lennon

Because a lot of the songs that we really enjoyed over the years, we love Keith Urban. Yes. And so there's no doubt that Nicole Kidman inspired a lot of those love songs, I would assume. Mm-hmm. If he writes some of his own. yes, that one was heartbreaking.

Christal

Oh, I wonder if Keith Urban right now is singing the Take your records, take Your Freedom, take your. Memories. I don't need them. Nicole,

Lennon

great breakup song. Yeah, that's a great breakup song. Another breakup that maybe wasn't as surprising as that one because they had already been down this road before Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck.

Christal

Oh, I knew that wasn't mm-hmm. I was like, this is probably not gonna last.

Lennon

I know. I know. Mm-hmm. It's, it's, here's the thing though. We can't knock on celebrities about not having lasting marriages and romances because everyday people have a hard time falling in love and staying in love too.

Christal

Yeah,

Lennon

I'm not totally sure that celebrity marriages fall apart at a faster rate than normal, just common people marriages.

Christal

Well, you know what? This shows us. It shows us that it does not matter how good looking you are, how rich, how famous you are. That's not what makes a a marriage. Stay or you know, people stay together.

Lennon

It's really not. And I think that's why whenever I said I have a good laugh all the time, it's, it's not, oh, look at those people. It is along those lines of, yeah, you're right. If, if looks and chemistry and attractiveness, if that could seal the deal, then all of these people would be great.

Christal

And if it was about enthusiasm. Tom Cruise on the couch talking about, Katie Holmes on Oprah should have told us, oh, they're gonna stay together. He's so excited about her. Excited. They're gonna together. Excited. Yeah.

Lennon

Yeah.

Christal

But no.

Lennon

Yeah, you're right. So at TCU, whenever I was talking to this room full of college students about it, I said, you know what is love if it seems so undependable? Because I said, A lot of you, like me, came from a divorced home. And I'm gonna tell you, our parents, when they said, I love you until death do us part, like they meant it.

Christal

Mm-hmm.

Lennon

And then I said, even for you as single people, if you've had your heart broken before in a relationship where you had said, I love you. Whenever you said it, you meant it as best as you could mean it, and to the best of your understanding. And so what is love if it's so unpredictable and seemingly so unreliable. A lot of times relationships disintegrate because one or both people stop being who they were, uh, more consistently whenever they were really kind of, I think, infatuated with one another. It's why a lot of, a lot of married couples who may be hurting look back at, say, their wedding photos and they think, who are those people? And how did, how did we get here?

Christal

Yeah.

Lennon

How did we get so far away? And so if we're gonna talk about what love is, we have to ground it in something more than the sense of we're so perfectly compatible because you find out pretty quickly that you are not perfectly compatible. You may be really compatible, you're not perfectly compatible.

Christal

Mm-hmm.

Lennon

And it also can't be an intensity of feeling and, and a sense of just commitment. Straightforward. And so one of the things that I think every Christian can benefit from. Is looking to love by God's definition and God's definition. Doesn't say a lot about intensity of feeling.

Christal

Yeah, it really doesn't, it really doesn't talk about that. I'll say, when we met and were engaged, I had a lot of intense feelings, so I'm glad those were there.

Lennon

Me too.

Christal

But it, we couldn't have lived on that forever.

Lennon

No.

Christal

Just that. Right. well, a lot of people know First Corinthians 13 because we say this at pretty much every wedding, right?

Lennon

Yes.

Christal

But I'd love to read it just to remind us of what. The Bible really says love is okay. So it says Love is patient. Love is kind. It does not envy. It does not boast. It is not proud. It is not rude, is 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.

Lennon

So let me ask you a question, like there's, there's that definition right there. Think back to young Crystal as, as a young adult with so much in her heart, so much love to give. Uh, was that how you would've defined love?

Christal

Yeah. Um. I think I would've said that because I grew up in church and I knew this scripture, but in my mind, romantic love, like that kind of love that I wanted with a spouse. I will reference back to my favorite book and movie, which is Pride and Prejudice.

Lennon

Yeah.

Christal

So maybe my expectations were a little of that. Mr. Darcy type person who, you know, there's some misunderstandings at the beginning, but you just really get to know each other and you, you get each other so well.

Lennon

Yeah.

Christal

And then he comes and he walks down this hill in the fog,

Lennon

with his

Christal

chest shirt button,

Lennon

his chest hair and giant forehead.

Christal

Yeah. And he tells me how much he loves me. And you know, you bewitch me body and soul, which is not the book, but you bewitch me body and soul, and I would just be swept away and you just live happily ever after in a giant mansion. Yeah. So maybe that was a little bit more my thought of what romance and marriage was like. Um, I did have a really good example of that in my parents, A good marriage example.

Lennon

Yeah.

Christal

But I think for my romantic ideas, they might've been a little lofty.

Lennon

Sure.

Christal

High expectation. He,

Lennon

yeah. That's why I had to take a shot at Mr. Darcy there.

Christal

Yeah.

Lennon

With his chest hair and high forehead.

Christal

No, he doesn't compare me. Who

Lennon

can live up to that? Oh, of course

Christal

I got a better. Mr. Linen.

Lennon

Yeah. Well I remember during that period of time in college, um, in an interpersonal communications class, our professor throwing out this question. What is love and he was talking about it romantically. Mm-hmm. So I remember speaking up from the back of the class, a young man, confident, he had so much to give with a definition that was something like love is accepting someone absolutely as they are and never needing them to change. And you would just be so committed to them and sounds great and very romantic. In any marriage like, God, help us if we don't change.

Christal

Yeah.

Lennon

For each other.

Christal

Yeah. Today we deal with just like love is. Just love. What does that even mean?

Lennon

Yeah.

Christal

You know, you can love anybody, anything and it's love.

Lennon

Yeah.

Christal

And it's so confusing because. It sounds good. It might sound kind of like, yeah, love is love. You can't really define it, but as Christians, we really do have to lean on the word and examples that Jesus talks about with how to love one another. And Paul talks about, we have to lean on that versus just whatever we're hearing out there and whatever's being fed to us.

Lennon

Yes. Yeah. So in our hearts and our mind and our level of commitment or whatever is up and down, we have something firmer to recalibrate ourselves with. And so something interesting just about this classic. One Corinthians 13 passage, you read, it doesn't talk about how love feels at all.

Christal

Mm.

Lennon

It talks about the way that love acts and so right, what love is, what it does, and what it doesn't do, right. What love is and what love is not. And so it talks about love is if it's describing the actions of a person, the way someone acts, and I think that is incredibly important.

Christal

Yeah, that is a good point. I don't think we see that unless we really read the passage and I, I really do love the ending where it tells what it is. Like you were saying, it does this and it does that, so it gives us a very clear idea. Of how we are to be if we love each other. And so love really is a lot of choosing. It's not just the natural thing you feel.'cause I think if you went by your natural feelings, you're gonna mess up with love so much.

Lennon

Some days you'd be way better than others.

Christal

Exactly. I mean, how. There are times where we are not feeling it. And I think if we live with this lie that we have to feel love for our spouse to know that we love them, we're gonna be misled there's so many marriages today that end because they have lost the feeling. So first of all, what if you lost that feeling? I mean, we know we can fall into love so quick. A lot of people even say they believe in love at first sight,

Lennon

right?

Christal

What happens if we've lost that feeling of love?

Lennon

I think it's just, it's, we've gotta say that feelings are real things and that feelings are even, yeah, theyre. Important things, but feelings are not ultimate things.

Christal

Yeah, that's good.

Lennon

And there are things that we can do that will either increase and intensify our feeling. Think of like if you're feeling depressed, you want to listen to depressing songs.

Christal

Hmm.

Lennon

It may not be what you should do, but you want to'cause you feel understood. Sometimes we need something greater. Uh, sometimes we need truth greater than feeling and just like we can do things to intensify bad feelings, we can do things to feed into good feelings, and so that whenever we're acting in a loving way, even if we don't feel. In a loving way at a particular time, those actions can begin to recalibrate our feelings.

Christal

Yeah. I love what you say when we do our six habits course and you you share a verse, I'm not gonna get into it right now, but how God tells his people. To do the things they once did to return to their first love. He doesn't just say, feel it now.

Lennon

Right.

Christal

I love how you explain that.

Lennon

Yeah. Do the things you did at first. He doesn't say feel the way you felt it first, even though he's saying, you know, you've lost your first love. The path back isn't to manufacture the feeling. The path back is loyal, faithful acts of love.

Christal

Yeah, exactly. so doing those things, choosing to do the things that you once did that really brought the feelings, right?

Lennon

Yeah. Yeah. And whenever we are in the early stages of love, or just say at a really strong period of time in our marriage, these things come very easily and very naturally. It's the days whenever it doesn't, where we're proving our, our vows, I suppose. And so like whenever. Scripture talks about love is patient, love is kind. You wouldn't need to be patient unless your patience was gonna be tried. You wouldn't need to be told to be kind unless there were gonna be some days where you didn't wanna be.

Christal

Can you think of any examples in our life?

Lennon

Oh my

Christal

gosh. Maybe looking back in the area of patience and kindness, what are, what is something that comes to your mind that really helped you?

Lennon

Yeah, I have a story that always immediately comes to mind with the subject of patience and it was, it was on a Super Bowl Sunday, several years ago. I had spoke that Sunday at a church that had three English services and. An Espanol service.

Christal

Mm-hmm.

Lennon

And so at the end of that day, I was talked out, and by the time we got home with our kids, I was so gripe. I was gripe to the kids. I was gripe to you and I didn't want to talk to anybody. And I remember we had just walked in the house and I was complaining about something and you put your hand on my chest and you said, Hey, why don't you go sit on the couch for a while? And I said. Okay. You know, and a few minutes later you brought me a glass of iced tea and then you brought me some chips and dip. It was Super Bowl Sunday, right? And you were patient with me and you were very kind to me in a moment where I was not giving you much to like work with other than being rude and fussy. But, that brought me back. What you could have said was, Hey, where's Mr. Funny? Is he just on stage or can he show up in the living room? Because that would be really nice. It would've been true. I would've deserved all of that. But you loved me really well that day. after a little while I was back, you know, in a way that fighting wouldn't have accomplished.

Christal

So you, you learned this a little by example for me, I guess you're saying. I

Lennon

did,

Christal

yeah. And I, here's what I'll say. I know there's been days where I've tested your patients, or I've seen you be patient with me and I may not have deserved it. And so we do this for one another. Yeah. And I'm very thankful that we do, not that we'd never lose our patients or we're always kind. That's not what I'm saying. But you, you do that for one another. And I think by example, when one spouse does it, it does make the other spouse wanna be better at doing that. Right?

Lennon

It does. It does. So that is a great example of like, you loving me very well and, and, uh, it helped me.

Christal

Hey, I will just say on my end, I remember when you told me when we were engaged, how I would become so annoyed with you eventually because you have a tendency to lose things. Yeah. And a tendency to forget things, which, you know, I thought at first you were kind of probably exaggerating or being too hard on yourself.

Lennon

Nope.

Christal

And, um. I thought, oh, that's cute. You know, he probably just needs a wife that helps him, you know, organize his life. But I didn't realize how true that was until a little, little time in our marriage, and I saw that you did often lose things or forget to tell me things and it could become a little annoying. But here's the thing. I do know this about you. And so for me to really love, well, like we're saying with First Corinthians, it means I need to be more patient and enduring because we all have these little things that. Can't annoy us about one another because that's kind of how it's, it's not stuff that maybe we can work on and we can get better a little bit, but some things are just not gonna change completely.

Lennon

Right? You'll never need to stop being patient with me.

Christal

So we have to endure with one another, right?

Lennon

We really do.

Christal

Okay. What about, here's another thought. something else that came to my mind, and I, you might even have something on this subject, but the not self-seeking. I know for me when we first got married, it was really hard for me to adjust from my single mind of my things. To our things.

Lennon

Yeah,

Christal

and I remember, I think you even called me out on it one day, but I would say a lot like my bed or my room.

Lennon

Yes. Yeah. I, I think we're married now. Yeah, I think. I think it's our bed. I think it's my bed too.

Christal

So I had to learn how to share better.

Lennon

Yeah.

Christal

All the things. And share space and share everything. That's what you do when you get married. You really are sharing everything.

Lennon

No, we don't realize how selfish we are until we have to become one with another person and everything is we and not just me anymore. And selfishness is something that can show up in a relationship at any time, whether it's in that first year you're learning it or you know, year. 17 or 18.

Christal

Mm-hmm.

Lennon

Which is where we were whenever I realized how much, how self-seeking I can be. Do you remember the, the legend of the soy sauce in Kroger?

Christal

Yeah.

Lennon

So we're in Kroger and we need to buy some soy sauce. And Crystal loves the little soy sauce bottles that have, they're the same ones that are on the table at every Chinese food restaurant that you go to. You can pour it out of either side. Nice controlled pour. She likes that bottle. And so on this particular day, that's what she reached up for. But I had an issue with it, didn't I?

Christal

Uhhuh? Yeah. You didn't want me to get that small bottle? For the price. We could have gotten a larger bottle. Just cheaper or something like that. And it wasn't, But it wasn't the spout kind. It was the regular refill kind.

Lennon

Yeah, because you, you wanted the ability to enjoy, to pour soy sauce in the way you wanted to pour it. And I was like, well, we can get a bigger bottle for a little bit cheaper and wouldn't it be good if we didn't have to buy soy sauce as soon and I'm making my case. And you said, yeah. Can I please buy this one? And I said, oh gosh, I'm doing my thing. Huh? Because friends, I have the opinion, I have the gift of opinions, I have an opinion on everything. And I'm not saying I'm always right, I'm just saying I'm always sure about it.

Christal

Yeah, Lynn and I, I don't think you're the only one out there that's like that, I'm gonna tell on myself for the next one. Um, the issue of easily angered, I'll say, first of all, I've not thought of myself much as a person who gets that angry or very easily. And I've, I have my moments. Of course, everybody has their moments.

Lennon

Yeah.

Christal

But I know you had a, a nickname for me when we were first married.

Lennon

Yes, my, my nickname went for you was, I called you my little Cobra because whenever I, whenever I would do something to upset you. Very typical guy, just want it to be over with as fast as possible. I don't want you to be upset with me. And so I would like reach in for a hug and try to pull you close. And you'd sort of, you'd sort of pop backwards, sort of like I picture a cobra leaning back, ready to strike. You know, you'd lean back and be like, don't touch me right now. Don't, do not hug me right now. And I remember feeling like, oh, this is like snake charming, trying to, oh my goodness. Trying to win her over and get her back. Oh goodness. I remember a friend. Actually saying early in our marriage, he was like, you know, crystal is just so kind and sweet. I can't imagine her even ever getting angry. And I was like, oh yeah, yeah.

Christal

Well, you know, the thing about marriage is there are some things about yourself you don't realize are in there. until you get tested in that area. Yes, and I think for me, I, like I said, I would not consider myself an angry person or easily angered person, but with your spouse, when you love someone, you're giving your heart and your life to them and they do something that hurts or stings. I know for me, that anger comes up in defense and I saw it happen in marriage, especially early on, and it surprised me and I didn't know that was in there. I'm very thankful that that has worked out better and better over the years. Yeah. I'm not saying I never get angrier. Maybe a Little glimpse back to that little cobra thing, but I will say I feel like we've grown. And I've noticed, hey, this is really in me. It's coming out. I need to deal with it in a way that. Is good and healthy so we can love better and our love can grow better.

Lennon

Yes. Yeah. What you're saying is, I'm not, whenever you said, I'm not saying that doesn't come out every once in a while. We've gotta be honest about this stuff because, you know, the end of these verses says, love never fails. Well. I mean, I'm trying to love you in this way, but I still fail quite frequently at it. All of us will. But the reason that Paul could talk about love never fails is because the definition of love he is giving is first and foremost, God's love toward us. He never fails. He is always patient toward us. He, he keeps no record of wrongs, all of those kinds of things. And so To kind of frame this and just put a bow on it without having to go through all of these Cs. Lewis wrote an essay called The For Loves, and he talks about the terms that are just simply translated love in the New Testament. And there was one called Storge, which is Parent child Love. There was phileo. That's like love within friendship. Think Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love. And then there's Eros, which is romantic, erotic love, but the word he's using for love. In one Corinthians 13 is the word agape, and this is God's self-giving sacrificial love. The big inside of that essay is he said, agape is what heals our broken human loves. And so it's the application of God's character and his love to romance, even to friendship and even to parenting. That is what can breathe new life and get a relationship that is in the ditch back on the road to healing.

Christal

So what you're saying is we really need the kind of love that God has for us.

Lennon

Yes.

Christal

To have for one another. So if that love is really working in our lives and our hearts, we're going to love better.

Lennon

Absolutely

Christal

right. So I, this is making me think of the first and second commandment that Jesus said are the most important. And the first one was love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. The second one is like it, but it's second. Love your neighbor as yourself. And I, I really think that if we are loving God and we're allowing God's. Love to work in us, then we're going to be better at loving our spouse, Yes. Or our kids. And so I think this is something we can just ask ourselves is how do I want to be loved If, if he says, love your neighbor as yourself. Okay. How do I wanna be loved when I am messing up with you, honey? if I make a mistake and I'm repented and I'm sorry, and you forgive me right away. If you're quick to forgive and to love me, that's how I wanna be treated. So then I would wanna do that for you too. I can't just expect that for me, but I would need to be that way for you.

Lennon

Exactly. So that's, that's the final encouragement, friends that we will leave with you if your love relationships with your spouse or with your kids if they're on the rocks or if they're on the struggle bus right now, the way that you recalibrate. Reflect on the love that God has given you, the way that he is toward you, and through prayer and by choice, say, God, will you help your love show up through me the love you have for me. Lord, help it show up through me. And I'm telling you, friends, if you will, lean on him because you can't do this by yourself, but you're not supposed to, if you will lean on him. Ask him to love through you. It may not change everything overnight, but it will begin to change the direction of things right away. Well, friends, don't forget to follow or subscribe so that you never miss an episode. We drop new ones every Tuesday, If today's conversation encouraged you, would you take a minute and share it with someone else you know that'll help more people find the show? You can always visit us@homeinmarriage.com for more resources like our Six Habits of Happy Couples Course, and like we mentioned at the outset, if you would like Crystal me or us to come speak at your church or event, you can schedule us through that website, home and marriage.com. You can also follow us on Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok. All those links are in the show notes.

Christal

Thank you for joining us on the Home and Marriage Podcast. We really do believe that home can be your favorite place. We'll be back again next week with more encouragement and wisdom to help you become better at home and stronger together.

I.