AMH blog series \\ Putting Love in Its Place

My phone background during my 10th grade year read simply, “Love Never Fails.” As a kid who grew up in the church, this reference to 1 Corinthians 13:8 seemed pretty cut and dry. However, as my friend picked up my phone, read my background, and said casually yet confidently, “That’s a lie!” my perspective shifted.

My instant reflex was to be appalled; after all, it was scripture! How dare she say that! However, I realized that based on her perspective, it easily could be up for debate. As far as I knew, up to that point in her life, she had never heard a Bible verse, had a trusting relationship with her parents, or even seen a healthy romantic relationship play out. Essentially, she had never seen unfailing love. To her, love was a storybook notion, not a reality she could ever experience.

True love is hard to come by

“Many claim to have unfailing love, but a faithful person who can find?” Proverbs 20:6

Even the Bible recognizes that finding love that never fails is hard to come by, and with divorce rates being as they are, I think proof of that in our modern society is evident. Faithfulness and unfailing love are indeed rare. However, before this becomes the most discouraging article you’ve ever read, I want to focus on the reality that the phrase “love never fails” is still 100% true, because in 1 John 4:8 it says, “God is love.” No matter how much or how little of real, lasting love you’ve experienced, the truth is, God is faithful. He has unfailing love. His love never fails.

I wish I could prove to you how faithful God is and convince you to believe in the depth of His love. But the reality is, I could never convince you. I can tell you from my personal experience that truly receiving His love after years of being a good church kid (all rules and no relationship) was the best decision I ever made. I can tell you that God is as wonderful and kind as He claims to be in the Bible.  All of that though is likely not enough to convince you to run wholeheartedly after God.

You have to know God to know love

There is only One who can reveal the truth of who God is to you, and it is God Himself. Even if it seems weird to you, I want to encourage you to take a moment to ask God a question. After all, what do you have to lose?  I encourage you to ask Him to show you who He really is. He wants to be invited to do so.  His love never fails. I’ve been soaking it up for the last 10 years, and it’s a reality God wants us to walk in, not just a cutesy saying we throw on t-shirts and cell phone graphics. None of that matters if we do not encounter His great love and find the freedom His love offers.

As for my friend from high school, it is twelve years later and I still find myself praying for her every night. I pray over her the same thing I pray over all of you Across My Heart blog readers – that you would come to know God for who He really is. That His love would overwhelm you. That you would know true freedom, the beautiful freedom of being loved unconditionally by God. Because knowing God means knowing love.