Love Never Fails

In preparation for my upcoming marriage, I have been meditating on love. Not the modern rendition of love where it flares up one day and dies the next. Not a feeling kind of love, but the choice love; the God love. The kind of love that is discribed in 1 Corinthians 13. Last year, a man in our Church put an interesting and thought provoking spin on the famous love chapter, and it showed me how much I lack the love that is Christ. I mean, really..... the love of God that is so great and so rich and deep that it could never be written across the great expanse of the skies.

What do I know of love?

What do I have that is even close??

What do I know of the self-giving, self-crucifying, self-denying love that is found in 1 Corinthians 13?

Very little, if at all.

I have learned something in my life, growing up with a great man of God for a father. We can do nothing in our own strength. We can only do what God enables us to do. And as for the great love that never fails, I am completely unable to exhibit it without the help and aid of the Great Lover that never fails.

And, personally, I'm glad He steps in when we can't do it alone. :)





1 Corinthians 13:4-8
Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth:

Love is patient. Christ is patient. …Am I patient?

Love is kind. Christ is kind. …Am I kind?

Love does not envy. Christ does not envy. …Do I envy?

Love is not proud. Christ is not proud. …Am I proud?

Love is not arrogant. Christ is not arrogant. …Am I arrogant?

Love is not hateful. Christ is not hateful. …Am I hateful?

Love is not selfish. Christ is not selfish. …Am I selfish?

Love is not easily angered. Christ is not easily angered. …Am I easily angered?

Love does not keep a record of wrongs. Christ does not keep a record of wrongs. …Do I keep a record of wrong?

Love finds no joy in sin. Christ finds no joy in sin. …Do I find joy in sin?

Love delights in the truth. Christ delights in the truth. …Do I delight in the truth?

Love can bear anything. Christ can bear anything. …Can I bear anything?

Love never loses faith. Christ never loses faith. …Do I lose faith?

Love is always hopeful. Christ is always hopeful. …Am I always hopeful?

Love endures all things. Christ endures all things. …Do I endure all things?

Love never fails. Christ never fails. …Do I fail?


1 Corinthians 13:4-8
Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self. Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have. Love doesn’t strut, Doesn’t have a swelled head, Doesn’t force itself on others, Isn’t always “me first,” Doesn’t fly off the handle, Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others, Doesn’t revel when others grovel, Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, Puts up with anything, Trusts God always, Always looks for the best, Never looks back, But keeps going to the end. Love never dies.
– From The Message Bible


1 Corinthians 13:4-8
Love endures long and is patient and kind; love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily. It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God’s love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong]. It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail. Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening]. Love never fails [never fades out or becomes obsolete or comes to an end].– From The Amplified Bible