UNFAILING LOVE

Psalms 13:5 “But I trust in your unfailing love. I will rejoice because you have rescued me.”

Most everyone at one time or another has placed their trust in someone’s love only to have that love fail them. Maybe it was a spouse, a parent, a child, family or a friend. There are many examples of love that has failed a person and is quite devastating. Broken marriages, dissolved friendships, and estranged families are just some of those examples. Still, we can find hope that turns pain and hurt into joy. It comes by focusing on God’s unfailing love for you and me. He has rescued us with his salvation through Jesus Christ.

God’s love for us is unfailing. It has not failed because of anything we have done in the past. It will not fail because of anything we do in the future. There is nothing that we can ever do to cause him to stop loving us. Love is not just a feeling, but a set of behaviors. In the Bible, this fact is clearly pointed out in what is referred to as the love chapter. (1 Corinthians 13 NIV) "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.” The Apostle Paul concludes this passage with these words “Love never fails.”

Love is a behavior. Loving feelings are the consequence of loving acts. If I have loving behavior toward my wife, she will have loving feelings toward me and I will have loving feelings toward her. There are some married couples that say “we no longer have loving feelings toward each other.” If this is the case, try treating each other with respect. Do kind acts for one another. Instead of being self seeking, live to serve your spouse. Give it a try and see if the loving feelings don’t come. Loving behavior brings loving feelings.

God has showed us loving behavior. His behavior shows us patience and kindness and it is not rude or self-seeking. (See John 3:16) There is no more powerful love that the love of God. Too often, we qualify our mistakes and failures as beyond hope. In our minds, we deem ourselves “unlovable”. Then, as a result of a flawed thinking, we move further and further from God, thus pulling away from his love.

The problem is that we are looking within ourselves, hoping to find some value that makes us lovable. That is a hopeless endeavor that leads to grave disappointment. We will never find it. We are lovable because God chooses to love us. We cannot cause him to love us more or less. We should, however, trust in his unfailing love that has rescued us. By doing so, we can rejoice. We are free from guilt and shame. We are free from death. Because his love gives us life.

Never let a day pass without celebrating his love for us. Don’t get mired in the regret of your shortcomings and failures. Live free in the strength of his love for you. It never fails.