Love Never Gives Up

"If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere  So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love.

Love never gives up.

Love cares more for others than for self.

Love doesn't want what is doesn't have.

Love doesn't strut,

doesn't have a swelled head,

doesn't force itself on others,

isn't always "me first,"

doesn't fly off the handle,

doesn't keep score of the sins of others,

doesn't revel when others grovel,

takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,

puts up with anything,

always looks for the best,

never looks back, 

but keeps going to the end.

Love never dies."

1 Corinthians 13:3-7 (The Message)

There seems to be a common misconception about the definition of love in our culture today.  If there's one thing I've learned in marriage, it's that love has nothing to do with how you feel about someone when you wake up in the morning.  Love has nothing to do with the sexual chemistry that lights you up towards someone.  Real, unconditional love is not influenced by how someone treats you or how happy or satisfied they make you feel.  Love can only be given by a powerful person who will give without expectations of their object of affection ever returning the favor.  True, pure love takes commitment, dedication, and a selflessness that sometimes seems supernatural.  

Love isn't for the faint of heart.  It takes vision for the future, hope and patience to pursue intimacy and keep a connection thriving.  The mentality that my relationship doesn't happen to me, but I happen to my relationship.  And when unconditional, shameless love is returned it is one of the most euphoric experiences imaginable.

xx