Ministers Blogs
“Love Keeps on Going”
Energizer made a very clever move when they came up with the bunny who wouldn’t quit. That bunny has been drumming since 1988. Yes please – I want my battery powered devices to last thirty years. I think Energizer came up with some effective advertising by tapping into our respect for things that persevere. All the other toys around that bunny have long given up, but he just keeps going and going and so on and so forth.
We respect that. We respect those who refuse to quit. This is a quality that God likes as well: "And as for you, brothers and sisters, never tire of doing what is good" (2 Thessalonians 3:13). You are called to just keep serving and loving and serving and loving . . . Of course, we probably don’t always want to keep serving. The devil is always trying to discourage us from loving actions to varying degrees of success. His goal is to get us to think that all of our efforts are not worth it, that they won’t amount to anything. He wants us to think that the people we serve will disappoint us and that our relationships are doomed to fall apart. If he is succeeding in your life I would like to direct your heart and mind to the love of God.
Has God ever quit on you? Has He, not day after day, reached out to you and encouraged you to be near Him? Of course, He has, for God is love. And love "always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres" (1 Corinthians 13:7).
When you see a fighter who takes punch after punch and just keeps going you probably respect him for it. When you see a bullied kid courageously keep walking to school day after day you may cheer him on. And you should! But also cheer for the "friend who sticks closer than a brother" (Proverbs 18:24). There are a lot of ways a friendship can fall apart – but the ones you really want to have are the ones who just will not give up on you. That is godly love. Respect the marriage that lasts fifty years. There are a number of ways that a marriage can fall apart, but give credit to the man who is faithful to the "wife of his youth" (Malachi 2:14). This is godly love – a love that always protects, always trusts. always hopes, and always perseveres.
