Love is patient and kind;
love does not envy or boast;
it is not arrogant or rude.
It does not insist on its own way;
it is not irritable or resentful;
it does not rejoice at wrongdoing,
but rejoices with the truth.
Love bears all things,
believes all things,
hopes all things,
endures all things.
Love never ends.
1 Corinthians 13:4-8a
Love bears all things,
believes all things,
hopes all things,
endures all things.
Marriage isn’t easy. It is daily.
It is ups and downs. It is celebrations and frustrations. It is passionate attention and distracted boredom. It is in sickness and in health. It is for richer and for poorer.
Marriage is daily. It is daily sacrifice, without always a thank you. It is cooking three meals a day and changing a hundred diapers. It is hi-ho-hi-ho; it’s off to work I go ... to a thankless job to get paid less than what it takes to meet some of the bills.
Marriage isn’t easy. That’s why scripture describes love as persistent. It “bears all things” and “endures all things.”
Wait! I don’t want to paint too negative picture of marriage. There’s a million benefits too! And best of all, I get to endure the challenges of life with a partner to help carry the load. But one of the failures in modern marriage is the assumption that things should always be rosy. They’re not. Life is hard! But it can be better together!
Let’s take a look at all of these attributes of persistent love:
· Bears all things. First, I’m occasionally a bear. Though less so, so is Mary Louise. And life is a bear too. But the secret is this: Like a farmer, I don’t bear with the hard parts -- the plowing and planting and weeding -- I’ll never reap the fruit. Indeed, if I’m not patient and forgiving, I will, in large part, be the cause of my marriage being hard to bear.
· Believes all things. I married my wife for a reason. I need to keep looking for -- and believing -- the best that is in her. I need to start assuming -- and believing -- that she wants the best for me and for us. I need to be more responsible for creating -- maybe re-creating -- an atmosphere of trust and joy and positive expectation. That’s my part of love.
· Hopes all things. God guarantees that things will get better. It may not be soon. It may not be in this lifetime. But for people of faith, something better is always coming. The question is: Do you have faith that this is true in your life and your marriage? Hope is God’s natural antidepressant. It is a supernatural elixir that allows us to face life’s challenges with courage and confidence. Does your marriage -- and your love -- have this spirit-breathed power?
· Endures all things. This is it ... will you keep at it? Will you keep loving when life is a bear or your spouse is a boar? Will you keep, hoping, believing, trusting? Yes, I know some behaviors must not be tolerated -- abuse and infidelity, for example. But the question is this: Except for the extremes that do true violence to a marriage, will you resolve to keep on keeping on?
Question: That last question is a good question for the day ... Except for the extremes that do true violence to a marriage, will you resolve to keep on keeping on?
Memorization: Again, you’ve been at this for a while. Before reading it again, just try reciting it. Then read it aloud and then try reciting it again. (Repeat until you’re satisfied.)
In Christ’s Love,
a guy in the jersey of
the Chicago football team
(I need to quit being a Bear
and put on a New Orleans’ jersey)
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