song of the day #12: love never fails.

So.  Today is Valentine's Day.
I'm not gonna lie it's one of the days I dread most.  Valentine's Day kinda of makes me gag.
Mostly that's just my way of saying that in order to hide the unbearable feelings that come up on holidays, I pretend to be comedically disgusted with them.  It's a facade folks.

The past couple of days have been "off" days for me.  I get this way around most holidays.  Again, I'm gonna be honest and admit I don't like holidays.  I generally like the idea of holidays, but they never quite turn out the way they should.  Most of the time they tend to bring up memories and touch old scars.  

Valentine's Day inparticular is hard.  The concept of love is something that I have wrestled with for a long time.  And I will admit, I feel like I understand more about love and what it means to love than a lot of people my age.  I definitely don't presume to know everything, but like most, I've had my fair share of experiences for my young age.

It is probably obvious that I'm single.  And don't get me wrong, I really am content with where I am in my life.  God has given me this gift of singleness and I am embracing it completely.  Yet, recently there have been some events in my life that have caused me to unfairly question the love of the people around me.  Christ has been showing me the significance of this.

 

http://emoland.deviantart.com/art/jesus-is-love-40208330 

I have always considered myself a very loving person, sometimes to a fault.  I take care of people.  I pick them up.  I wipe away the tears.  I'm there at a moment's notice.  I love people.  Yet, lately I've been finding it really hard to love people in my life who, seemingly by their actions, respond to me in a not necessary loving way.  I think the disappointment and heartache has gotten the better of me, and especially it being this close to Valentine's Day, has made me want to retaliate.  Not rational, I know.

"Love is patient and kind.  Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude.  It does not demand its own way.  It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged.  It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.  Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance."  -1 Corinthians 13:4-7

The end of this passage, the part I bolded, really hits home for me.  Love NEVER gives up or loses faith.  It is ALWAYS hopeful and ENDURES through everything.  That is why love is hard to understand.  I believe that we are fed by society that love is a feeling that makes you all warm and fuzzy inside and that every day is rainbows and butterflies and cupcakes.  But the reality is that, LOVE IS A CHOICE.  Everyday, we are given the choice to love those around us.  Even when they aren't necessary loving us back.  This is what Christ shows us through a very real sacrifice. The fact remains that Jesus Christ loves us even when we show him no love.  When we turn our back on him, when we disappoint him, when we wander from him, he never stops loving us.  Jesus Christ is the definition of unconditional love.

Love is not about what you can get from it.  It is about what you can give.  I was recently introduced to a song that is based on the 1 Corinthians verses above.  It has really been on my heart and I have been singing it subconsciously a lot the past couple days.  I feel that it really breaks those verses down to the nitty-gritty.  They are real and blunt and they stick to your heart.  Give it a listen:

Love Never Fails- Brandon Heath

Love is not proud
Love does not boast
Love after all
Matters the most

Love does not run
Love does not hide
Love does not keep
Locked inside

Love is the river that flows through
Love never fails you

Love will sustain
Love will provide
Love will not cease
At the end of time

Love will protect
Love always hopes
Love still believes
When you don’t

When my heart won’t make a sound
When I can’t turn back around
When the sky is falling down
Nothing is greater than this
Greater than this

Love is right here
Love is alive
Love is the way
The truth the life

Love is the river than flows through
Love is the arms that are holding you
Love is the place you will fly to
Love never fails you.

Christ calls us to be imitators of his love.

"Imitate God, therefore in everything you do, because you are his dear children.  Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ.  He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God." -Ephesians 5:1-2

Christ is the standard that we should hold ourselves to.  We are given the opportunity to be that sweet smelling fragrance to God when are actions mirror Christ's.  Yet, we will fail.  We will mess up.  We will disappoint the ones we love the most.  But the beautiful reality is that Jesus Christ never, ever will.  His love is more than we could ever hope for, more than we can ever experience on this earth.  When everything else falls apart, Christ remains.  His love is everlasting.

Christ shows me more and more that he really, truly can sympathize with my pain and hurt.  And honestly, mine pales in comparison to the pain I know he feels when we reject him.  With his reminders, Christ is showing me how this isn't about me at all.  It's about learning to become selfish, like Christ did.  We were not created to serve ourselves.  We were created to serve our brothers and sisters in Christ.  The moment I make these situations about me, is the moment I stop doing what God has called me to do.  Thankfully, I have a great God who shows me mercy when I falter.

Valentine's Day is a great day to be reminded of the amazing love we have been blessed with.  And I am truly blessed to have Christ as my eternal, unfailing, everlasting Valentine.