Love: It's a Pain

I’d like to amend Paul’s statements about love in 1 Corinthians 13. Love may be patient and kind and all of that, but Love is also a giant pain in the butt.

I mean, let’s be real here: love is hard, and complex, and confusing, and involves a lot swallowing pride and trying to be gentle when really you just want to scream.

Here’s the worst thing about love: sometimes, even when you’re trying really hard to be a good person and be “loving” it’s met with all sorts of non-loving reactions. And the loving response is to be patient.

I have a confession to make: I’m not patient. At all.

Also, Love is really difficult to talk about in the English language. We have one word. Most other languages have at least three. Obviously, we have some problems with love built into our very framework of communication.

What I’m trying to say is this: Love is lovely. We like to talk about it and write poetry and feel a little righteous about it. But when it comes down to it, love is hard and frustrating and elusive and confusing. Too often, when love is really needed I respond in fear. Too often, when I know I am hurting and so is my conversation partner I choose to focus on my hurt. Too often, when love is really needed… I chicken out.

And yet… our faith is built on this difficult verb/noun.

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind & Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Occasionally, these verses slap me in the face. It’s not about me. There’s something greater here. I may not be able to see the way and it may be incredibly difficult and frustrating and it may cause me a ton of anxiety BUT love is, somehow, worth it.

A worthy cause. Some people pray and want their whole lives for a purpose and a worthy cause. So here it is: Love.

It may be a pain in the butt, but we could always use some more.

God, we know that you are very proficient in loving us and we ask that you guide us in loving each other. It’s hard. Soothe our anxieties and angers so that we can learn to be beacons of your light even in the most trying times. Over and over, you have stood faithfully in our midst and have patiently loved us. Thank you for your wisdom and love. Help us to reflect what we see in you to our family, our friends, our neighbors, and our church. Amen.