The 4-letter "L-word"

"Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it dos not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends."

(1 Corinthians 13:4-8a)

We have an obsession with love. We idealize it. Romanticize it. Commercialize it. Songs, movies, tv shows, & books are all filled with it. We can't seem to get enough of it. And yet... the love that's often depicted by our culture doesn't tell the full story of what TRUE LOVE is.

Yes, romance is important. Beautiful people "falling in love" is captivating to read/watch/listen to. But as the opening sequence of Beauty & the Beast remarks, "beauty is found within." I've also come to believe that love is far more of a VERB than it is a feeling (in fact, relationship experts say that the feeling of "being in love" lasts only 2-3 years for a couple - after that, loves has to change to endure!).

Maybe that's why this passage from 1 Corinthians 13 is so epically powerful. Known as "the love chapter," it lists a lot of the HARD WORK that love does in a healthy relationship. Love is...

• Patient...

• Kind...

• Not envious, boastful, arrogant or rude...

• Doesn't insist on its own way...

• Not irritable or resentful...

• Doesn't rejoice in wrongdoing...

• Rejoices in the truth...

• Bears all things...

• Believes all things...

• Hopes all things...

• Endures all things...

Love never ends.

My parents had a piece of sand art over their bed that listed all these attributes about love. And I was blessed to witness their living it out as I grew up. I try to model that with my relationship with Jody the best I can. And I want that same kind of loving relationships for both of my children and their fiancés.