Love (Still) Never Fails

“Love never fails” (1 Corinthians 13:8).

You’ve seen love between people fail. Sometimes terribly. The more experience you have with people, the less true this verse seems. Over the years I’ve had a lot of people ask me about it because they’ve been through so much pain in their relationships.

The word for “fail” in this verse means to quit, to abandon. I certainly don’t have all the answers, but I know love never fails because God is love (1 John 4:16), and he never, ever abandons you (Hebrews 13:5).

His love is always, always available to you, no matter what you’ve gone through, or what you’re facing. No, it’s more than available—it’s continuously expressed to you in countless ways, if you’re open to see it.

Even at the lowest points of my life, I’ve still experienced his unfailing love. In fact, sometimes that’s all I’ve known—that Jesus loves me, and I love him. It’s not a religious belief system. His love is my reset button, the truth I start over from when nothing else around me makes sense. It’s the reality that renews my mind and restores my heart.

“Love never fails” doesn’t mean someone you love will receive it, and everything between you will be the way you want. It means God has more than enough love and grace for you to deal with the situation you’re facing, including the strength to love those who don’t return it.

Make room for love again. Give God the pain, frustration, resentment, self-pity, and self-righteousness in your heart, and let him fill up the space with his love. Listen. Stay here until you can sense his presence, until you can feel the comfort, healing, peace, hope, and joy of his love. Then say it out loud—not as a desperate wish, but as a declaration over your life: “Love never fails.”