"Love Endures," Part 1

We return once more to 1 Corinthians 13. The first seven verses tell us that we are nothing without love, and also describes the characteristics of what love is and isn’t. All this leads to a declaration in verse 8: “Love never fails.”

Love Dare primarily examines this theme in the context of an overly stressed or failing marriage. If that is your situation, then I once again encourage you to seek pastoral or professional help. But for our purposes, I will assume that this is not the case for the majority of our readers. Nevertheless, almost every marriage, even the healthiest ones, will experience difficult seasons. So this two part message will focus on how unfailing love can help us in these situations.

Let’s consider some helpful material from Bob Lepine’s “Love Like You Mean It”. He begins with an electricity analogy describing how we have grown to depend on it and never expect it to fail. And when it does, we are not happy. Sometimes we view love in a similar way and are disappointed when others fail us. But God’s love never fails and can sustain us even when others fall short. Lamentations 3:22 says, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end.” When we are adopted into God’s family, we are never without His love (see Romans 8:38-38). But God’s love is different than ours. And sadly, our love for Him and others can sometimes runs dry.

Many couples fail to grasp the essential “never give up” foundation that is necessary to sustain a lifetime love. Emotions are fickle. Romance comes and goes. But enduring love has an unshakeable commitment to one another and a willingness to sacrifice. That’s what is at the heart of our wedding vows, when we commit our love “for better or worse”, through both good and challenging times. Life will be hard at times and our love for each other will be confronted by a multitude of threats. But love doesn’t give up.

The biggest challenge we face in loving others well throughout our life is that we don’t have enough love inside us to never run out. Lepine now uses a second analogy – a water cistern or “Love Tank”, which needs to be filled in order to dispense love to others. This is why, by God’s grace, there are many kind and gracious non-believers who are able to dispense love to others. As long as people keep making deposits into their cistern, they have a love reserve to draw from.

Receiving love from others is wonderful, but everyone’s love tank will run dry at some point. No human has an unlimited reserve of love to give. But love from others is not intended to be the primary source of love for Christians. Our supply comes from God - a love which is steadfast, unchanging, and endless.

On our own, our love is feeble, fickle, and frail. But God’s love for us, in us, and through us to others is different. It enables us to keep loving, because He first loved us. So when it feels like you are simply going through the motions and your tank is empty, recognize the problem and remember the solution. God is the source of enduring love. Go to Him daily, confess your weakness, and be refilled. He has more than enough love to meet our needs.