Today's words, though, come from the song that was sung at their wedding, Love Never Fails by Brandon Heath. It's a sweet, simple song but, I think, is also profound in its meaning. It's based off 1 Corinthians 13 (I'm assuming, because it sounds like it is), which was also read at the wedding. And which is also profound.
1 Corinthians 13
If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging symbol. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became an adult, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we only see a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.
And here's the song:
Love is not proud
Love does not boast
Love, after all, matters the most
Love does not run
Love does not hide
Love does not keep
Locked inside
Love is the river that flows through
Love never fails you
Love will sustain
Love will provide
Love will not cease
At the end of time
Love will protect
Love always hopes
Love still believes
When you don't
Love is the arms that are holding you
Love never fails you
When my heart won't make a sound
When I can't turn back around
When the sky is falling down
Nothing is greater than this
Greater than this
Love is right here
Love is alive
Love is the way, the truth, the life
Love is the river that flows through
Love is the arms that are holding you
Love is the place you will fly to
Love never fails you
All of these verses highlight the importance of real, not fake, not self-seeking, not surface, but true love. It's the kind of love God, our Father, has for us. It's the kind of love Jesus felt for us even as he hung on the cross. It's the kind of love parents have for their children, and the kind of love that should exist between a man and a woman. All-sustaining and powerful enough to turn nothing into something. It's hard to put into words how, I dunno, solid or elemental or something this kind of love is supposed to feel, so I'm glad Paul and Brandon Heath have done the work for me up above.
It may seem as though I am just being too optimistic, hoping for too much, or unrealistic in wanting this kind of love. But I think it can exist. I mean, those verses in Corinthians aren't a joke. They're a map. A guide that leads to love that never fails. I think I have felt a glimpse of it in myself, although I'm not sure if I've felt it in return. Even still, I think it's possible. And if it's possible, then it's worth holding out for, worth hoping for, worth waiting for, worth looking for, worth fighting for, and worth praying for.
I am going to continue to hope, continue to pray, and continue to wait patiently to find this kind of love, love that remains, and love that never fails.
Bam! Optimism!
Sentimentalness over.
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