Love never fails. – 1 Corinthians 13:8a
How can Paul make such a bold statement about love? Doesn’t love fail us all the time? I know my love fails more often than I’d like to admit, and it sure seems like other people’s love fails as well. Hasn’t Paul experienced the pain of a love lost before? Is it a little naive for Paul to be so optimistic about love?
Maybe… but maybe not.
Maybe the loss and failure of love that you and I tend to experience says more about the people who give and receive this love than about love itself. In other words, it isn’t love that fails, but people who fail… ok, it’s me… I fail at love sometimes, even when I am trying to be loving.
So, maybe Paul can say that “love never fails,” because he is not talking about a love that originates in a limited human. He is talking about the love that comes from God Himself. God’s love will never, ever fail, because it is a part of his nature. Love is a part of God’s identity. If God had DNA, love would be baked into it. We know this because the Bible tells us that “God is love” (1 John 4:16). This means that God is not just loving to us or loveable by us, but that God IS in fact love. It is Who God is and He can’t be defined without it! This is how we can be sure that love will never fail!
From eternity past, God has been love and for eternity future, God will be love. God has never known what it is like to not have love or not be loved. Now, he wants to invite more and more people into that relationship of love. Not because He needs love, but because he wants love. Did you hear that? God wants your love! You are wanted by God! And He happens to know that His love is the only thing that will satisfy you… especially if you have ever been hurt by love. So today, just take a moment and soak in his love for you and if you have an opportunity, share that love with someone around you.
Josh Rose
Discipleship Pastor