Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.
I memorized this passage from First Corinthians 13 as a child and it comes back to me often. Especially in regards to our children. Love is a commitment, not an emotion. I tell adoptive parents this all the time. It means deciding to love and loving, forever, no matter what. And with damaged children, who do not always love back it is very difficult.
But loving the unloving teaches me a lot about God. God loves us even when we don’t love him back. God loves us when we are difficult, stubborn, out of sorts, distant, uncommunicative. He just keeps loving.
And if God can love me like that, can I keep my commitment to love my children no matter what? Can I love them when they don’t love me back? Can I love them when they are difficult? When they are stubborn? Etc. Etc. Etc.
Yes, I can. Because love is a decision and a commitment, not a feeling.
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