But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. Colossians 3:14
In the last few years of my dad’s life he went through a lot of changing. His brain surgeries gave him the typical symptoms of TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury). He became paranoid, hyper emotional, suffered dementia, etc. This was a rough time for my family, esp. my mom; she took the brunt of dad’s “mood swings” which happened often. Although times were hard and my mom had to deal with no longer knowing the man she had been with for over 30 years, she never stopped loving him and she never left him. When many people would have turned away because it was too hard or not worth it to them, she stuck it out; my mom love for dad reflects the true love of Jesus Christ (1Cor. 13).
The world tries to sell us a very different picture of love. They wish us to believe that love is all tummy butterflies and happy feelings. They wish us to believe that love is getting someone some chocolate, a card and a teddy bear and receiving something in return. Although these can be expressions of love, they are in no way love itself.
Love is the glue that holds everything together. Life will twist and tear out our lives; we will let our loved ones down, we will hurt them like no one else can and we will think that there is no hope. True love will hold together when everything else has fallen apart. Yes sometimes it will look shaggy and it may seem like it is about to be lost, but true love never fails (1Cor. 13:8).
God has shown us His love for us; He proved it through His son (Rom. 15:13 ); it prefers to give than receive.
Will you seek today to show true Christ-like love? Will you lay aside your self-centered ideas of love? Allow God to teach you what true love is all about!
