Right relationships

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Focus: Love never fails

1 Corinthians 13:2b (paraphrased) Without love, I am nothing.

Life isn’t easy. Loving is hard. It takes real perseverance not to give up on people who have let you down over and over again. It takes humility to say you’re sorry and eat your words when you’re the one who failed—and it can be just as hard to let it go when someone else has been wrong and wants you to forgive them.

Probably the hardest thing of all is continuing to love when the one who was wrong refuses to admit it—and doesn’t even see their fault.

Sometimes you might think it would be easier just to walk away. Who needs people anyway? You may be tempted to give up on somebody right now. People aren’t perfect…that’s for sure.

It’s hard for me to tell you that you can make it, because there were times when I didn’t—but, I can say that Love never fails—it’s people who do.

God is love—and God wants people to ‘get along’. He doesn’t like to see relationships fail. He truly is able to see you through it, but hurt feelings and pride can really get in the way after a while.

When a relationship has been strained for a long time, it’s hard to remember the good things that brought you together in the first place. It’s hard to put your feelings aside and just try again—when you really don’t have the heart.

When you think about trying to make something work that hasn’t been working and it seems like you’ve already worn yourself out and there’s no love left in you to give—remember God is love and He is still in you. You don’t have any strength left of your own to try again, but His strength can help you.

You may be at a place where you’d like to try, but your efforts are rejected…and it’s hard to just keep going back for more of what has hurt you so much in the past. Just lean into Jesus and take all of your directions from Him. Try not to hear the sound of your own voice as it repeats all the reasons why you should think of yourself and stop taking the pain. Listen to His Words, instead. Think of His love and what kind of lengths He went to for you…and the person who is hard to love right now.

Make a declaration about the relationship you have been fighting for. Speak a faith statement about how it all turned out. Read and re-read the words of 1 Corinthians 13. It bears repeating…sometimes more than once a day. Write it out and carry it with you as a sign to God that you’re holding onto His Word in the relationship that concerns you.

I will paraphrase it: ‘Even though I have the ability to speak the foreign languages of many different countries or even angels—if I don’t have the ability to love, I might as well be a clanging bell or crashing a cymbal. If I have the gift of being able to know and speak about the future and the ability to understand all of the mysteries of God and have all kinds of knowledge and faith that is so great it can move mountains—but even with all of these abilities, I don’t have love—then I am nothing at all. If I have the ability to give everything I own away and even give my body as an offering to be burned alive, I would gain nothing, if I didn’t have love. Love keeps on caring and waiting with a willing attitude. Love isn’t jealous. It doesn’t brag or act proud. Love would never be rude. It isn’t selfish and it doesn’t get upset with other people. Love doesn’t keep track of all the wrongs someone else has done. It doesn’t enjoy anything evil, but is thrilled when truth is revealed.

Love willingly and patiently carries on through all things. It always trusts without doubting. It hopes for a positive outcome, and it stands the test of time. Love never fails.

There is a reason why our knowledge and ability to know the future is not perfect, but when we are made perfect in Christ—we will stop failing and we’ll have the ability to do all things right. When I was younger, I talked differently than I do now—my thoughts were different then, too. At that time, I only had the ability to see things from my childish perspective. When a person gets to be mature, they stop acting like a child. The same thing is true about love. How we view love here on earth is like seeing our reflection through a mirror in a room that is almost dark. Later, we will be able to see with perfect clarity. What we know about love right now is only a fraction of how we will be capable of loving when we know God more fully. There are three things that are constant and true forever. They are faith, hope, and love…but the greatest of the three is love.’

Declaration: I will stop saying negative things about my ability to love. I will find new strength by reading what the Word of God says about love.