We have a standing joke in our family. Whenever my wife says she is going to the hairdresser to get a permanent, I always speak up. “Now Dear, you are not going to get a permanent! You are going to get a temporary! If it were really a permanent, you would only have to do it once.” After more than twenty-six years of hearing me make this joke, she laughs, smiles, and heads off to get another “permanent.”
The fact is there are not many things that are truly permanent. It seems with each passing year things become less permanent than ever before. Consider the amount of throw away items we purchase on a regular basis. Remember taking the TV, VCR, DVD player to get repaired? No longer! Today it is less expensive to buy a new one than to pay someone to try to fix the old one. The old is simply discarded to make room for the new. Often, an item does not even have to be broken to be thrown away. Many people trash the old just to get the latest and greatest version of the same item.
In a world of temporary, it is great to know there really are some things that are permanent. Thus far in our 28 Days of Love devotionals we have learned that Love must be our Priority and that we need to be careful to really Practice Love. The final paragraph of 1 Corinthians 13 is all about the Permanence of Love. Consider the first sentence of this paragraph with me.
“Love never fails.” (1 Corinthians 13:8)
While this short sentence contains only three small words, it is packed full of meaning! All month we have been working to get a handle on the word “love.” We learned that “agape” or “true love” is a choice to love someone unconditionally and benevolently, doing what is best for the person loved. The word, “never” is often overused. How many times do we use the word “never” only to find ourselves doing or saying exactly what we said we would “never” do or say? However, when God says, “never”; He means, “NEVER!” The last word in the sentence translated here as, “fails” is also a powerful word. The Greek word, “ekpipto” means “to fall down from”, “to fall out of”, or “to fall off.” According to Strong’s Concordance, when used metaphorically the word can mean, “to lose it”, “to perish”, “to fall powerless”, “to fall to the ground”, or “to be without effect.”
While most things in this life will eventually fall, perish, become powerless, or ineffective; love never will! True love really is permanent! Romans 8:38-39 makes it absolutely clear that nothing can separate the believer from the love of God! Indeed, God’s love does not change in the triumphs or tragedies life! His love actually continues even when this life is over. Truly, God’s love is with the believer for all eternity!
Job understood this reality! While he did not understand why the Lord allowed countless tragedies come into his life in a single day, two things He knew for sure: 1. God is good, 2. God loves His children. Therefore, he responded by saying things like, “The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the LORD”, “Shall we accept good from God and shall we not accept adversity?”, and “Though He slay me, I will trust in God.”
If you are a believer, then no matter your circumstances, you can know with confidence that God’s love for you will never fail! In turn, His desire is that for all eternity we reflect His amazing love to others. Ask Jesus to help you to comprehend the Love God has for you and help you reflect that love to others.
Walking by Faith 