Love Never Fails….. (1 Corinthians 13:8) is a stunning statement. Yet, it is scripture, it is therefore both true and truth. But, think about it: Love NEVER Fails!
Few of us enjoy failure. I know I do not. For those who seem to reside in failure, they have probably had a rough road of conditioning to remain there. I understand that failure and losing, with all their friends, also reside along the path to success. Thus, in the short term, failure may seem to prevail.
Still, “love never fails”…. I light up inside pondering this truth. This is where I endeavor to live. So what does this never-failing love thing look like?
Love Never Fails – It Sustains
Never failing love is:
- loyal
- ever-present
- constant
- steady
Love Never Fails – It Chooses
Never-failing love is not based on how we feel from one moment to the next, but first and foremost is an act of the will. Love’s motive is not what the object of love brings to the table but rather comes from a giving place to the object.
Never Failing Love Is A Person
The notion of love is everywhere this month. In fact, Valentine’s Day products filled the shelves of stores as Christmas decorations departed. My first reaction was “seriously?”. Given further thought, I realized: How Appropriate!
We just celebrated the greatest act of Love in all history: The choice of God the Father to send His Son, Jesus, as the ultimate demonstration of Love. It only seems fitting that a holiday celebrating Love would follow on its heels.
The Way That Love Never Fails
I Corinthians 13 is well-known as the Love chapter. It tells us what Love looks like. I can be taken as a “to-do” list, a way one ought to behave if we are to be loving.
Of course, that is a valid way to look at it. Yet, to stop with this view is at best, shallow, at worst a setup for self-condemnation, rather incongruous with the “Love never fails” statement.
The Apostle John states, “God is Love”. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit = Love. When one substitutes (like a mathematical equation) “God” for “love” in the description of love, it reads:
4 God is patient and kind; God does not envy or boast; He is not arrogant 5 or rude. He does not insist on His own way; He is not irritable or resentful; 6 He does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 God bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. 8 Love (God) never ends or fails. ….
This provides a fresh view of the character of our Creator God. He is love. He sent Jesus to show us what love is. like.
Jesus – The Example And Way Maker
So how on earth – literally – can love never fail? The gospels provide a picture of the heart of the Godhead through the earthly ministry of Jesus: “I only do what I see the Father do, I only say what I hear Him say…” – disease, poverty, sickness, performance religion, fear, demons, oppression, death, all just got up and left every time Jesus showed up!
At some time or another, each of us faces circumstances that shout the opposite of victory. Thus, if you have lived long on earth, past defeat and failure add their voices to the mix.
Today, I choose to believe and say “love never fails”, not as a wish or pipe dream, but as truth. Above all, I trust that Love makes and opens ways. It rearranges things. Love does miracles. Love NEVER fails.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
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