It is too bad that the English language uses one word for all the connotations of "love". The Greeks had at least four different words for the varying types of Love -- Eros, Agape, Storge, Philos.
Too many people assume the emotion-driven love, called Eros by the Greek, is a real lasting love. Certainly that is part of what is needed for a healthy marital R, but it is not the most important part. I think for it to be a lasting love, the kind that God intended in a M, it is comprised more of the Agape form of Love. Agape comes of a conscious and willful choice, it is not forced upon us by some Cupid-driven and transient emotion.
As far as whether it is decision, I agree with what has already been said above (obviously, see my sig.) Eros may be sparked by an unbidden emotion, but real love, Agape-type love, is a decision.
In my own case, I can remember the exact circumstances and the events when I decided I was not only in love with my now STBXW but that I decided I would love her. I made a conscious decision to choose between going with my emotions and to give my love to her, or to not do so. I made a choice in that moment that I was going to love this woman forever.
These last twenty months have been an excruciating exercise in trying to undo that decision made nearly 19 years ago, while trying to maintain my meager sanity in the process. Some would say I have already lost my sanity, or there was not much to be lost anyway.
