OK...Here is my take on the subject. Simply put: Love is the eternal quality of deep, abiding, never ending care and concern for another. It warms the heart, fuels the passions, resonates with the loved one, brings a smile, illuminates the mind, fills the soul with hope, and inspires determination.
Love is a verb. We talk about love as a noun or 'state of being.' To me, love is an action verb. Love inspires and motivates states of being, e.g., confidence, trust, peace, kindness, safety, and happiness.
To be more concrete, read on...
Love stops mistreatment. If you truly love someone, you cannot intentionally injure that person; Love will not allow you. Of course, there will be times of stupidity when the loved one is unknowingly/unwittingly injured, but purposeful injury is not allowed. (If you intentionally injure your loved one, how much do you really love that person?)
Love moves to action. Especially on the behalf of the loved one (or ones) is action taken. Love does not sit in the corner of a room observing. Love requires involvement.
Love is charitable. When you truly love someone your focus is upon the other person, not upon yourself. Love causes you to seek opportunities to uplift, support, encourage, and give time and energy to the loved one.
Love is an investment. But love is like no other investment. If you properly invest your love, it will pay greater dividends than any other investment. Indeed, if you love fully, deeply, and correctly your return will be larger than the investment. (If the return is not greater and you are truly doing what you should, there is a problem with the other person--or maybe that person is a teenager--:-)--it takes them a while to get it even though they think they got it better than you.)
Love allows freedom. Love allows and promotes free-agency so that others can be whom they are. Love never controls...just invites. Love does not boast and is not caught up with how great it is. Freedom is allowed because love desires the other person to grow and progress in their own capacity.
Self-love is an appropriate expression of love, but self-love does not equal selfishness. Positive treatment of self is not an act of selfishness. Neither are self-understanding and self-support acts of selfishness. It has long been my opinion that you cannot love, help, serve, support another person any better than you do for yourself. You cannot give what you do not have.