Love Never Fails

We just do not know how to love—all the time. Oh, we can love when we agree with one another. . . . We can love when we share the same lifestyle. We can even love strangers or those who don’t know us well. But it sure is harder to love those who are closest to us. Why? Because they can hurt us the most.

Love wins! Love wins all the time. Love never fails. I think that we forget too easily that the love we have for others is of a different kind. When you surrendered your life to Christ, the Holy Spirit set up residence inside you, and from that moment on you were given a new DNA, a new heart and access to a new kind of love. “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Corinthians 6:19–20).

     When we make Jesus the center of our lives, we become part of a bloodline that sees hurt and offense differently because we see others differently. We love with a different kind of love. So when offense and setbacks come, if we look closely and ask God for His eyes, we see each situation differently from the way the world sees it, and the work of forgiveness can plant a seed and begin to take root.

     The flesh will cry out for justice, but the spirit will trust that God sees, God hears, and God will make it work for good and His glory in the end. But I’m the first to admit that this kind of love is not easy, and rarely my first instinct. My first impulse is to strike back and go on the offensive. But that is just what I said it was—my first impulse. I have learned over the years that I cannot let my first impulse be my first response. I have learned that in those moments when my blood is boiling or the cut is the deepest, I must do what David learned to do . . . step back, take a deep breath and inquire of the Lord (see 1 Samuel 30:8).

Focus Is Everything

I can tell you with great confidence that in every situation of great offense or personal attack that, however I chose to respond, God was always waiting in that place where my eyes lifted off my circumstances and turned to look to Him. Every time my focus shifted, He was there, and He will do the same for you. His love never fails. I am always amazed at how near He is. And His solution is always the same . . . love.

     Love is a weapon that can shatter division and rebuild what is broken. These are hard choices to make, especially in the heat of the battle or the attack, but if you will make these choices you will make room for God to do in the supernatural what you could never do in the natural.

Maybe you know well the sting of hatred or resentment. Maybe a close friend abandoned you because he or she was jealous. Instead of encouraging you, believing in you, this person cut you off. I want to remind you that when Joseph’s world turned upside down, when all hope seemed dried up, he held on.

     Perhaps the greatest revelation you can receive on the topic of offense and forgiveness is this: In every situation, and no matter how helpless you feel, you always have a choice of how to respond. Unforgiveness is like drinking poison and expecting it to affect the person you refuse to forgive. The only person it hurts is you. Choose love over hurt.

     Forgiveness may not come immediately; in fact, that is rarely the case. But love can come immediately because it’s a choice, and a choice no one can take from you. Better yet, it’s the best choice; it’s the choice God desires and rewards. That’s a powerful promise! Choose to love others—always.

Press On

This next point is critical to the call and purpose God has for your life: No matter the offense or hurt, choose to keep pressing forward. So many times these situations can be paralyzing. Sometimes in my family, our greatest and most hurtful conflicts would happen just moments before I had to go to the church to preach before thousands of people. Those conversations with God on the way to the church would talk me out of quitting right then and there or from turning that car around and going back home.

     Pressing forward was a choice, but it was a choice birthed in obedience to God’s voice in those difficult seasons. Never forget that there is an enemy who comes to kill and destroy—and his tactic is always deception, because he is a liar. He will whisper defeat and indignation and condemnation with one purpose in mind: to get you to turn away from God and His purposes and His call on your life. Satan wants to kill your dream and cancel your assignment. Don’t give in.

     When you’re going through hell, don’t stop there. Keep moving forward.

     Choose to keep driving toward the goal the Lord has set before you. Rebuke those voices of defeat and condemnation in Jesus’ name and fix your gaze fully forward. Keep moving. Don’t give in and don’t stand still in those moments. The devil knows if he can cease your forward momentum there is a chance you will turn and go back.

     When the trials and conflicts of this life come, there will almost always be a face and a name associated with the attack. Don’t give in to your first impulse. Step back and inquire of the Lord. Love always wins. Choose to love others—always. Keep pressing forward, even when you feel weak. It is a great spiritual truth that when we are at our weakest He is strong on our behalf.

     And never forget that your circumstances are never intimidating to your God. Draw near to the God who is always so much nearer than you might have imagined. God wants to heal you and defend you and even avenge you if you will simply draw near. Do that now.

Prayer

Lord God, thank You for Your unfailing love. Thank You that even when I fall down or fail, You don’t withhold Your love for me. Teach me to love like that, Lord. Help me not to place restrictions on my love and to love even those who have hurt me. Thank You for Your patience and Your careful, guiding hand in my life, Lord.

Based off the book Restart Your Heart by Jentezen Franklin used by permission of Chosen, a division of Baker Publishing Group. Copyright 2018.