Love (1 Corinthians 13: 4-8)

If you ever been to a wedding (or the inside of Hobby Lobby, Hallmark. etc), more than likely you know this verse. We hear and see it all the time...

1Corinthians 13: 4-8 (NLV)

Love does not give up. 
Love is kind. 
Love is not jealous. 
Love does not put itself up as being important.
Love has no pride.
Love never thinks of itself.
Love does not get angry.
Love does not remember the suffering that comes from being hurt by someone.
Love is not happy with sin.
Love is happy with truth.
Love takes everything that comes without giving up.
Love believes all things
Love hopes for all things.
Love keeps on in all things.
Love never comes to an end.

I think most everyone has heard it or seen it somewhere. And it gives us the warm and fuzzy feeling of new love. Right? I know I do... when I see two people that mean enough to me to invited to their wedding and I watch them as they exchange vows and the preacher reads these words, I can't help but feel happy and hopeful that their marriage will be full of the love mentioned in 1 Corinthians.

But it won't.

Don't get me wrong, it will have days full of that kind of love. Love is all these things, but people aren't. They can't BE love. People get angry, people sin, people can be selfish and prideful. PEOPLE aren't love. GOD is love.

1John 4:8 (NKJV)

He who does not love, does not know God. for GOD IS LOVE.

People aren't love, God is. So why do we try so hard to BE love instead of giving love. We can't BE God, but we can give the gift of His word and His message, and do our best to live our lives the best we can and use His word as a guide in loving others.

1John 4:11 (NKJV)

Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

You can't BE love, but you can be patient and kind. You can't BE love, but you can show examples of love. But we are all less than God, and we will fail from time to time (some periods in life, I fail daily), but that's ok! The great news is that God IS love. He is patient and kind with us always! He will never end, His love will never end.

In our lives, we need to show love to others. We will not always be great at it, but we can try. In our marriages, our families, our jobs, wherever we are, show love, CHOOSE love. A hateful heart will never be happy. A heart full of God has no room for hate.

I wanted to share something I wrote several years ago about true love (marriage).

True love is perfectly, imperfect. It is fighting and forgiveness. It is laughter and sadness. It is anger and comfort. It is all these things wrapped in two people who love each other enough to see past the imperfections. Life isn't perfect, people are not perfect. The good times in a marriage are great, but they aren't always. I've heard people say that God is testing your marriage during the hard times. I call a big ol' BS on that one! In the hard times, God is holding your love, supporting it, encouraging it while it is attacked by the devil. The devil wants to destroy love and the great things that come from love. God gave us all free will, we can decide whether or not to allow the fighting, sadness and anger to control our love, ending it, OR we can fight against the evils, cherish the laughter, forgiveness and comfort in our lives.

Love is hard because LOVE is perfect, but people aren't. You have to make a choice everyday to choose love. You have to fill your heart with God and the love will follow.

Love one another, cherish each other, be the kind.