Love. Never. Fails.

You know how we’re always advised to ‘never say never’? Guess what? God said ‘never’, right there in 1 Cor. 13:8, when He had Paul write that in that letter to...all who claim to follow Jesus. Many of us know it as the ‘love chapter’, and you hear it quoted at a ton of wedding ceremonies.(Not just that one phrase, but a good portion of the text leading up to that particular ‘claim’ or promise where he describes what this ‘love’ looks like.)

I should also point out here, that the English use of the word ‘love’ can come across rather sterile at times as we often toss it around to mean everything from how we ‘love God, or our spouse, our families...and yes...how we even ‘love’ pizza and pancakes. So diving off into a very brief lesson in Greek, the language we derive much of the NT scriptures from, there are three different words used to convey ‘love’, and the one found here in this chapter is the word ‘agape’, which is the deepest and purest form of love: a ‘God-kind-of-love’.

The other two words used for ‘love’ are what we are more familiar with, especially before we come to know God’s love (agape). They are the words that convey a ‘love’ that stems either from the mind/emotions (phileo) or from the fleshly appetite (eros- which is where we get the word ‘erotic’ from).

But let the record show, it is the God-kind of love (agape) that we are promised never fails.

You have to wonder at times...why is it that so many sincere people who attend church regularly, and profess to be ‘believers’ in, or ‘followers’ of... Jesus...don’t fare much better than those on the ‘outside’ – folks ‘in the world’ who don’t consider themselves to be ‘Christians’ when it comes to keeping their families intact?

How many ‘Christian’ marriages...have gone down in flames (divorce)? How many of those marriages who are still ‘holding on’, but struggle to find any joy or fulfillment as they ‘paint a brave outward face and go through the motions’, yet know full well their marriage is dead inside.

How many ‘Christian’ families have been splintered and torn apart because a parent ‘blew a fuse’ and unloaded with both barrels, spewing anger and rage and even hate on a child who was damaged deeply by their ‘lack of love’? (But blame it on their ‘fallen, sinful nature)

It seems like there’s been a lot of ‘fails’ out there... in the ‘Christian’ community of all places, would you not agree?

So I guess we can conclude that there are times when ‘love’ really does...fail? Maybe God got it wrong, or ...He didn’t really mean that?

Or just maybe...we got it wrong (imagine that!) and it wasn’t the ‘God kind of love-(agape) that we had filling our hearts and homes...that led to the disintegration of our family units that left a pile of smoking ashes.

If I’m going to ‘choose sides’, I think I have come to the place where I want to side with God, every time, and agree with what He said, regardless of what my experiences and personal opinions may seem to suggest or have dictated.

God’s love...never fails.

Did you know that whenever there is some major ‘fail’ we hear about, perhaps a plane crashes, a business folds, a product fails that leads to some painful tragedy...after all the ‘dust settles’, there are people who come in and study...why that happened. They actually rummage through the ‘broken pieces’ and ask the painful question: “Where did we get it wrong?” It takes a bit of humility to do such a thing and to look inward to find out how such a painful and tragic incident could have occurred. What could have been done differently beforehand that would have prevented such an unfortunate event taking place?

I know how easy it is to toss out phrases, song lyrics, and yes, even ‘God breathed scriptures’ as we claim...to have God’s love abiding in us. But there was a reason Paul admonished us to take a closer look and examine ourselves...to see if Christ Jesus really lives in us, even suggesting we might ‘fail the test’ ...the closer we look. (2 Cor. 13:5). And I’ll be the first person to raise my hand and admit: “I got it wrong!”...after all those years of ‘being close’. Folks...abiding in Jesus is not a game of ‘horseshoes’ where ‘being close’ counts for something.

If we are not abiding in Jesus, there is absolutely no way...we can bear the fruit of God’s love, which by the way, is the true genuine fruit manifested by those who truly are His disciples. “By this...will all men know you ...by the ‘love-agape’ you have for one another” (John 13:34-35). Not to be overly redundant here, but that is the kind of love...that we are told ‘never fails’.

I’m not here to throw salt on old wounds or to stir up painful memories of past failures. But for those who find themselves still floundering amidst the ashes, or fledging foundations in your own life and homes...may I invite you to at least draw near and examine God’s word one more time...and be open to the possibility...that maybe we were just a tad short on walking in that ‘agape love’...which could explain a whole lot...when we seek to find out what went wrong? Join me tomorrow?