The Hard Work of Love

Daily Gratitude Year 7 - Day 62: Today, I am grateful for those who choose the hard work of love. 

Anniversaries are a really important thing to celebrate... so are birthdays with loved ones. They both declare "We have loved for another year. For another year, we have done the hard, messy... and, at times, thankless work of real relationships." No one said it would be easy, only that it would be worth it. Right? 

Honestly, The Love of my Life is careful with my heart. I endeavor to be careful with his, too. We both mess up. We both forgive. That is what love does. It chooses to love more and love beyond any faults and wrong done. True love forgives.

This quote is share worthy:

"No one falls in love by choice, it is by chance. No one stays in love by chance, it is by work. And, no one falls out of love by chance, it is by choice." -unknown

Choosing to love on a grumpy day... when the car breaks down... when the dog gets sick on the carpet... when the milk runs out... when their toothpaste is on the mirror... when the toilet gets clogged... is vital to a love story. These are the times when choosing love matters far more than in the sweet moments that look like a Hallmark commercial. Real love, the genuine kind that lasts, is messy. It is perfect love. 

This verse from Jeremiah is God promising better days ahead for the disobedient people 
he loved so much. He points out the power of faithfulness in love. 

"the Lord appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you." -Jeremiah 31:3(ESV)

Try it, again, in the NLT version: 

"Long ago the Lord said to Israel: “I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself." -Jeremiah 31:3(NLT)

Everlasting love (Earworm is singing some Andy Gibb).Unfailing love draws us to Him. It draws us to each other, too. His example of relentless love is witnessed throughout the scriptures. Old Testament and New Testament, too. 

Because we couldn't achieve perfection through the law, our God made another way. Not by law, but by love. We grow by learning to trust and obey in light of the cross. Jesus took the penalty so we would be spared that pain. He made death a door for us, not a destination. 

As parents, we hate to see our children in pain. We love each child equally and differently. (It is more evidence of humans being made in God's image.) I cannot even fathom the pain of the cross for the Father and the Son. Together, they made a way for us to be saved, redeemed, adopted and made new. 

How do we respond to that kind of love? Say "yes" to Jesus... it is better than "yes to the dress". He wore our sin robes so that we could wear the clean, white, soft robes of the chosen, forgiven, adopted and saved. Imagine the love of the Father when one son gave his life for all of the others. Jesus did this in obedience to rescue the other children. Talk about a heart bursting with love! There is no greater love. 

God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. -Ephesians 1:5 

So much to think about as we look toward Easter. 

Today, I am grateful for those who choose the hard work of love.