February 16. Love Always Perseveres

February 16. Love Always Perseveres

The Greek word is hypomeno.  To remain when others leave.  To hold out when there is opposition. To wait with persistence for someone to arrive.

Love simply doesn’t give up.  Ever.

Love is just plain stubborn.

Who have you given up on because it seemed more important to protect yourself than anything else? We’ve all done that.  People wear us the heck out.

When I was in high school, there was a friend that was so needy I wanted to scream.  I couldn’t believe that anyone had so little self-esteem they would put up with anything, simply to be around people. A couple of us spent a great deal of time with her because it seemed like the right thing to do and for heaven’s sake, she just never left!  She’d invite me to spend the night and I suspect the preparation for that event was a huge deal for her and her mother, who wanted nothing more than for this poor girl to fit in.

I was so thankful when she moved on because I could breathe again. But, her life never worked out well.  She had rough relationships and honestly, I have no idea what happened to her.

As I look back on that relationship right now, I am really quite ashamed of my behavior.  Yes, I invested a little time into it and spent time with her, inviting her to do things with other friends and doing all I thought I could do at the time, but I gave up.  She wore me out.

I’m betting that none of you would blame me for any of my feelings – you’ve been there.

But, that isn’t what God is about – is it?  He doesn’t ever give up on us even when we are needy or whine constantly about our problems or cling to Him.  He just keeps pouring love out onto us.

I didn’t have it in me to be stubborn enough to love her through her own issues.  And no matter how many excuses your or I make about it – the truth is, we do not understand what persistence in love is really about.

Jesus does.  He loved to the point of death.  For my selfish high school self, for that poor girl who needed friends more than anything, for all of us.  He loved persistently.