1 Cor 13:7: “It [love] always protects, always trusts, always hopes always perseveres.”
As we collectively find ourselves in the heart of the Christmas season, a verse like the one previously emphasized feels particularly impactful. It’s beautiful to think about how God’s love always protects, trusts, hopes, and perseveres. As I let these words stay in the forefront of my mind over the last day or so, I noticed myself gravitating toward the end of the verse that talks about how love always hopes and always perseveres.
Love always hoping and always persevering has been a theme of mine during this Christmas season. Life can be difficult, and that difficulty can eventually create a feeling of hopelessness. When that is the case in my own life, I remember that I have to cling to something that is more stable than my own circumstances. Circumstances change, but time and time again, I see that God’s love is unending. God’s love is something that I can confidently put my trust in, even in the midst of difficulty. Christmas reminds me that not only does God love me, but that God’s love is not fickle love. It is worthy of my trust.
Christmas also reminds me that, like the verse says, God’s love is willing to persevere. This attribute is especially noticeable when I think about the incarnation or the idea that God came to Earth and put on a human nature. Fully God and yet fully human. How much does God love humanity? Enough to be willing to live the life like we live. God was willing to persevere through things like fatigue, stress, heartbreak, and pain because of God’s endless love. That is a deep kind of love.
This reality is what often draws me back to God’s heart for me. God sees me and knows what it feels like to be in a limited body. God knows what it feels like to be rejected. And yet, God’s love perseveres. This pattern of perseverance is not just seen at Christ’s birth, but it continues throughout Christ’s life and is culminated at Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection. How much does God love us? Enough to persevere through the struggles of life and even through death itself.
God’s love for us is unending. God’s love for us was and still is willing to push through any difficulty. That is what I hope to remember as Christmas continues to draw near. I pray that we all can remember that. God sees us. God loves us. God came for us.
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