How does a Christian woman know she is in love?

Love, I believe is one of the most important characters In a Christian. At Sunday school we get taught what is means to love others "as ourselves" and multiple other teachings that doesnt really mean anything at the time.

Then a stage comes when you question your feelings for a special someone in your life. I have to be honest and say I am not married, I have never had a boyfriend (or at least not since I was five), but there has been times when I have questioned my love for someone I know.

Until just recently, I had no real idea on how you know if you are truly in love with someone, and then I read the Christy Miller series by Robin Gunns Jones, and found myself enraptured in how beautiful the love was between the major two characters, in the book I watched them grow, as a couple, grow up in maturety and also the most important grow in God.

It really gave me an eye opener as to what true love is about. I then read the "when God writes your love story" book by eric ludley and his wife. It affirmed to me that true love not only exists, its real for anyone, of any age to experience.

So I thought I could write down a few verses about love that may help you to understand what I did about love.

first of all there is:

Luke 10:27

So he answered and said "you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind" and "your neighbour as yourself."

Most of you will probably have heard this verse before in church or in sunday school, and probably heard it that many times, you may have shut your mind and heart to what it truly means, if not forgive my assumptions, because I know I did.

Have you ever thought about the part that says: "you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind"?

Could it be possible that before you can truly love any man, you have to love God more, and with all of you, every thing that you do must be done to try most of the time to please God? I know I never really thought about this until just recently. Before you can love a man, do you first need to learn to love God and (this is where the neighbour part comes in) everyone you meet and come into contact with? does this help you to keep a stronger relationship with your "Mr. right"?

To all of these I believe yes. It is up to you though to decide what you take out of this scripture. For the whole time Christ Jesus was on this earth, He showed just how much he loved EVERYONE He came in contact with, he even loved those people who abused, abondoned, rejected, and tried to destroy Him. He said: "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do."

Have you forgiven people that do this sort of thing to you? Can you truthfully say you LOVE them? well I will leave that with you.
the second verse is:

1 Corinthians 13

..........and though i have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things, love never fails......

If you have found love with a special man, that fills all or most of these love requirements, well done, if not, you will have to decide what to do next. I know that this is what I will measure my future love by. I hope this helps.