Is Love Forever?
The other day, my friend was saying that nothing is forever.
I looked at him and suggested, "Love?" He shook his head.
If we look at the world around us, it definitely looks like love is not forever. You don't have to look far to see relationships falling apart. Divorce is now so common that there is discussion about whether marriage should have an expiry date.
But this is not what the Bible teaches:
"[Love] always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away." (1 Corinthians 13: 7-8 NIV)
Is this just a romantic notion, wishful thinking, an impossible ideal? I do not think so. The problem is that our love is an imperfect love, a human love, a broken love. It is tainted by our insecurities, our sin, our mortality. But the love of God has no such restrictions.
"The life of mortals is like grass,
they flourish like a flower
the wind blows over it and it is gone,
and its place remembers it no more.
But from everlasting to everlasting
the Lord’s love is with those who fear him
and his righteousness with their children’s children--
with those who keep his covenant
and remember to obey his precepts." (Psalm 103:15-18 NIV)
To trust myself to some words in a dusty old book might seem foolish, and perhaps it is. I can say, 'God loves you,' but unless those words are backed up with action, they are just empty words. But they are not empty. I believe that the pattern of God's love runs through all of human history.
At this point, I probably seem hopelessly naïve to you all. And maybe I am. But before you give up on me, consider this: when I say love, I am not talking about a feeling. Feelings are fleeting; they come and go based on mood and circumstance. When I say love, I am talking about a choice that is made real through actions, and very often it is hard work or unpleasant. Love is sitting down with a homeless person and listening to their stories, even if they smell bad and their stories don't make sense. Love is cleaning up someone else's vomit without complaining. Love is standing by a friend even when they are driving you crazy.
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous." (Matthew 4:43-45 NIV)
Of course, this is very difficult, if not completely impossible, if I try to do it by myself. But whenever I struggle to love someone, I think of how God loves me, and what He has done for me. And when that is not enough, I pray for the person and their well-being, and I pray that God would teach me to love them more and to see them as He sees them.
"And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
"We love because he first loved us. Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister." (1 John 4:16-21 NIV)
I looked at him and suggested, "Love?" He shook his head.
If we look at the world around us, it definitely looks like love is not forever. You don't have to look far to see relationships falling apart. Divorce is now so common that there is discussion about whether marriage should have an expiry date.
But this is not what the Bible teaches:
"[Love] always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away." (1 Corinthians 13: 7-8 NIV)
Is this just a romantic notion, wishful thinking, an impossible ideal? I do not think so. The problem is that our love is an imperfect love, a human love, a broken love. It is tainted by our insecurities, our sin, our mortality. But the love of God has no such restrictions.
"The life of mortals is like grass,
they flourish like a flower
the wind blows over it and it is gone,
and its place remembers it no more.
But from everlasting to everlasting
the Lord’s love is with those who fear him
and his righteousness with their children’s children--
with those who keep his covenant
and remember to obey his precepts." (Psalm 103:15-18 NIV)
To trust myself to some words in a dusty old book might seem foolish, and perhaps it is. I can say, 'God loves you,' but unless those words are backed up with action, they are just empty words. But they are not empty. I believe that the pattern of God's love runs through all of human history.
- Even knowing how broken, how evil, humanity would become, God created us anyhow, gave us free will, and sought out a relationship with us, even when we turned our backs on Him.
- He has provided us with a beautiful planet, full of an abundance of resources. We have as our playground everything from the tiniest of details to the expanses of the universe.
- He sent His Son to become one of us, to die, to pay the punishment for all our wrongdoing.
- Even now, God is working in the furthest corners of the Earth. I know people who have worked as missionaries in countries where it is illegal to be Christian, and have heard their stories of people coming to them because they had a dream that told them about Jesus.
At this point, I probably seem hopelessly naïve to you all. And maybe I am. But before you give up on me, consider this: when I say love, I am not talking about a feeling. Feelings are fleeting; they come and go based on mood and circumstance. When I say love, I am talking about a choice that is made real through actions, and very often it is hard work or unpleasant. Love is sitting down with a homeless person and listening to their stories, even if they smell bad and their stories don't make sense. Love is cleaning up someone else's vomit without complaining. Love is standing by a friend even when they are driving you crazy.
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous." (Matthew 4:43-45 NIV)
Of course, this is very difficult, if not completely impossible, if I try to do it by myself. But whenever I struggle to love someone, I think of how God loves me, and what He has done for me. And when that is not enough, I pray for the person and their well-being, and I pray that God would teach me to love them more and to see them as He sees them.
"And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
"We love because he first loved us. Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister." (1 John 4:16-21 NIV)
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