Love is Hard

 


Love is hard.

This is a truth I didn’t always know.

 

In fact, there was a time in my not so recent past that felt that if love was too hard, it must not be “real.”

 

When I first reconnected with Jim, we did a lot of talking about the Bible.  I remember being particularly annoyed when we discussed 1 Corinthians 13:4-7.  It is a passage used at many weddings, but in my experience, I didn’t feel it had been true.  I told Jim I thought it set people up to fail.

 

The words are fairly simple -

 

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” 

 

But putting them into practice every day is hard.

 

The divorce rate in America is about 50%, and for those already divorced once, it is significantly higher than that.  I think the reason for that is that many of us think that love should be easy.  It’s not.

 

Somewhere along the line we let Hollywood convince us that if we love someone they should “complete us,” and like the prince and princess of every Disney movie, we should be able to ride off into the sunset where we live happily ever after…without much work, without much trouble, without much dedication.

 

But REAL love is sacrificial love.  

 

The greatest example of this is Jesus who allowed himself to be beaten, nailed to a cross and killed, because He loves us.

 

If you love someone, TRULY love someone, it means you love them even when it gets hard, and you put their needs about your own. 

 

It means you love them “for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health” and forsaking all others, you are faithful only to them, for as long as you both shall live…

 

Yes, real love is hard – and sometimes not reciprocated as it should be, but those who understand and practice it, are living as God intended.


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