You And Me

So what happened? The life that we had planned together, for our family and our future, has faded away. All that remains now are the echoes of memories and what-could-have-beens. Where did things go wrong?

If you are human you have probably experienced the pain of a loss or of a broken relationship. Deaths are easier to understand I think. A person in our life dies. We get that. People die. But the death of a relationship among the living carries with it many more things to deal with.

There are the questions, of course. "Why?" is probably the biggest one. Why did the relationship end. Was it something I said? Was it something somebody has done? Questions are haunting things. They lead to sleepless nights, self-doubt and loneliness. What we need are answers. Those can be hard to come by.

There are some people in this world who are users. That's what we used to call them anyway. People who are in relationships for their own gratification. They consume freely, but they don't commit fully. When the storms come they tend to abandon ship. They don't ride things out for the sake of the relationships or the other person in it.

The 13th chapter of Corinthians is often called "the love chapter". In it we can find a list of things that true love should be.

Love is patient

Love is kind

Love does not envy or boast

Love is not arrogant or rude

Love does not insist on its own way

Love is not irritable or resentful

Love does not rejoice in wrongdoing

Love bears ALL THINGS

Love believes ALL THINGS

Love hopes ALL THINGS

Love endures ALL THINGS

When we are resentful in our relationships, that is NOT love. When we are rude, there is no love there in that moment. If I had to describe the characteristics of love in two words those words would be "unconditional love." And if I was only allowed ONE words to describe what love is, that word would have to be "God".

"God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. ¹⁷ This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. ¹⁸ There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

¹⁹ We love because he first loved us. ²⁰ Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. ²¹ And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister." - 1 John 4:16-21

The key to fining unconditional love is finding God, first. We can think we know what love is but unless God is part of our relationships, TRUE love is not there. We may think it is but, if we don't know God, we will never know the heights and the depths of love. God . . . is . . . love.

^"38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." - Romans 8:38-39

"Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God." - 1 John 4:7

You And Me - Lifehouse
Slow Fade - Casting Crowns