April 24, 2019 - There was a man who had a very strong willed and stubborn teenager who was having some trouble coping with a tragedy that had occurred in their lives.
The young person was on this day, particularly obnoxious and rebellious toward the father. The harder the teen tied to provoke the father, the more quiet the father became. All he said to the teen was that he loved them.
Finally in the heat of the young persons rage they lashed out and said " I don't want you to love me. Can't you see that! I have been trying to do things to make you quit loving me, because I don't want to love you anymore!"
The father was heartbroken, but the next words that came out of his mouth were what changed the whole dynamics of the conversation. He said, "I know you may not want me to love you right now because you are angry at me. You may feel that you don't love me, and that's ok. But you have to know that no matter how hard you try you can never make me 'not love you.' I may get angry with you, I may not be happy with you, I may not like what you are doing, but there is nothing you can do to make me stop loving you."
Real love is stubborn. Real love is not subject to our emotions or environment, but our Spirit. Only the Holy Spirit of God can put that kind of love in a persons heart. Gods love is an unshakable, unconditional, reckless kind of love. That loves us no matter how much we love Him.
- 1Corinthians 13: 7 - Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
- Psalm 118 - 1 Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever! 2 Let Israel say, "His steadfast love endures forever." 3 Let the house of Aaron say, "His steadfast love endures forever." 4 Let those who fear the LORD say, "His steadfast love endures forever." 29 Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!"
The love that is from God never ends. Could you imagine if it did? Humans would have been obliterated eons ago. God bears with us, he believes in us, he hopes with us, and he endures our constant disobedience and wandering away from him. We are the prodigals.
This love is not dependent on other’s behavior, it is unconditional for the person, but may not be accepting of sinful behavior. Unconditional love means you love the person, but still confront the behavior. That is why God’s love sometimes looks harsh, but the motive is always for our good.
I always shake my head when I hear couples split up because they are "not in love anymore." What does that have to do with anything? What does "in love" mean? I think for those who say this, it mean as long as my selfish desires are getting met - (Eros love.) When we fall out of love it means, we’re bored with the person. That’s not love, real love cannot be shaken, you cannot stop loving if it is real unconditional (agape) love. The essential nature of this love is that it is endless.
Basically love never gives up on anybody, no matter what they do, no matter what we feel.
Aren't we blessed that our Gods love is stubborn. Trust in Him and you will never be unloved.
I'm Just sayin,
Mike Belgard
