Love is not one sided; it is reciprocal relationship. Do you love others… first? The Word of God gives the most valuable and eternal perspective on love:
It is written: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” –Mark 12:30
“And now I will show you the most excellent way. If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 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 have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I posses to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, 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. …” -1 Corinthians 13: 1-8
“And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.” … “Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.” -1 John 4:20-21
“Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. -Romans 12:9-10
“By this the children of God and the children of the devil are clearly identified: anyone who does not practice righteousness [who does not seek God’s will in thought, action, and purpose] is not of God, nor is the one who does not [unselfishly] love his [believing] brother.” –1 John 3:10 Amplified Bible
“Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.“ -Romans 13:8
“Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.” –Romans 1:8
“Love is not something you say, it’s something you do.” -Mother Teresa
If “love fails” between persons it is because one or both parties never understood or possessed God’s love to begin with. e.g. God hates divorce, and those who choose divorce as an option are breaking covenant with the Lord! (Malachi 2:15-16). Those who profess Christ and divorce malign the name of Jesus and injure the Body of Christ. Repent and be reconciled with your spouse! Similarly, governments and nations who do not come under obedience to Jesus will break trust with its people.
“God calls people freely to offer him their obedience. Nothing is gained by imposing patterns of ‘Christian’ behavior on human beings whose hearts have not been turned to the Lord.” Abraham Kuyper (1837-1920); Christian History & Biography Issue 94
