The final description of what love looks like is the line "Love never fails".
In a very famous scene between two lovers Juliet had it correct. Romeo is pledging his love to Juliet by saying "Lady, by yonder blessed moon I swear/ That tips with silver all these fruit tree-tops." Juliet stops him and tells Romeo "O, swear not by the moon, the inconstant moon/ That monthly changes in her circled orb,/ Lest that thy love prove likewise variable." (II : ii) Love should not wax and wane, pulled by some external force outside our relationship with our mate. It should be constant. Steady. It should be the light by which we will always find our way home to our love at the end of the day, no matter how dark the times become.
Love is not mercurial. It does not shift or cool based on the whims of infatuation.
So now take a look at how you are treating and interacting with your partner, are you:
- Patient
- Kind
- Not envious
- Not boastful
- Not prideful
- Bring honor
- Not self-seeking
- Calm in temperament
- Forgiving and forgetting
- Truthful
- Protective
- Trusting
- Hopeful
- Perseverant
If you can honestly say you try every day to exhibit these qualities toward your mate then you are expressing what the Bible describes as the portrait of love.
I did not ask you to examine your partner against this list for that is their responsibility. It is not our job to judge them and certainly, we will never be able to change them. However, we can change ourselves. Even though we are imperfect humans we can strive to be better persons. We can be the change we want to see. Let it begin with us. When our mate sees the effort we are making for the betterment of the relationship then they will perhaps be moved to do their own personal evaluation.
I do not advocate staying in a relationship that is unhealthy or abusive. I do encourage you to reflect how you at one time seen something in your mate and to try to re-discover what that was. Don't partake in this throwaway society where some enter a marriage thinking "if it doesn't work out we can always get a divorce." Don't set your relationship up for failure from the outset. What we say, do and how we behave sends out concentric rings that touch the lives of everyone we meet.
Show love.
Feel love.
Be Love.
In the end
Love Wins!
