It's the subject of many songs, it's the theme an opera might have, it's had wise men pondering and writing over and it's in the plotline of most popular novels and movies. Whether you have a Christian belief or not, I want you to take some time to read this as I take apart and explain the most profound definition I have ever seen of what love really is. It's a passage in the Holy Bible written by an ex teacher of Jews who was busy murdering Christians before Christ pushed him off a horse and blinded him and spoke to him out of a bright light and this man went on to write a third of the New Testament of the Bible.

The scripture reads

4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never fails..

In part 1 we covered a number of the facets of love, today we are going to continue with the rest of them.

love does not rejoice in iniquity

If we lived in a world where there was no rejoicing in sin (iniquity) there would be no news on the Television each night. If you took away the stories where one of the ten commandments was broken from the news at night there would be little left to watch.

Love does not get excited about hearing something bad our partner has done. It does not get excited about an argument our friend had, it does not rejoice in sin. That sort of love is so foreign to us. Most of us like a bit of a juicy story, we especially like to hear someone of good reputation losing their cool. That is not love, that is our wicked hearts and the way we are as debased creatures.

but rejoices in the truth

Pure love only rejoices in the truth, not the sins a person has done but the good things. We live in a society with an appetite for all sorts of stories and there is much gossip and slanderous information going around, yet the loving person is not interested in gossip they are only interested in the truth. When they hear people gossiping they quietly excuse themselves and leave.

It says in the Bible that only a good person will look for a good report and that the wicked are only too willing to seize on bad news.

Love rejoices in the truth. Truth can be so rare these days. To find a person where the truth is always on their lips is a refreshing change. To find a person that loves like this verse is so refreshing.

Have you been rejoicing in the truth lately?

7 bears all things

Some people say in their vows in marriage, in sickness and in health, to death do us part and then something gets to much for them in their relationship and suddenly there is a separation and a divorce.

Not so with the highest form of love. For that love bears all things. No matter what comes against it, it endures and sustains itself and does not fail.

Wouldn't it be a great world if people actually bore all things? Wouldn't it be good if people who loved us simply didn't give up on us and leave us for a brighter pasture next to us in the arms of another man or woman?

When you have the highest form of love, you endure all things.

believes all things

Have you been fortunate enough to have people believe in you? Have you striven for a goal and wanted to achieve something and had people believing in you? This is what Paul was talking about here. When you love a person you believe in them you believe the good things for them.

Have you people in your life like that? This is a special facet of love as so many times we want to throw it all in and give up and in these times people that believe in us can keep us going toward our goals and desires.

hopes all things

Life can be pretty dark without hope. As a Manic depressive I know a lot about depression and the effect hope can have on life. Some people have such bursting energy and many hopes and dreams and people that love these people have hope to and share in the hope

Have you people hoping for a good future with you?

Couples start out with hopes and dreams and start their journey as husband and wife and twenty years later you can talk to them and a good couple still have hope alive in their hearts not matter how many failures they have had.

Life can be disappointing. For one whole week I haven't been able to get out of bed to write, put into bed from mental illness and yet people who love me have big hopes for me and their hope does not die if I have a week of defeat.

There has to be people in the world full of hope and people that you love need you to join alongside of them and hope with them and for them.

I still cannot get around how profoundly wise Paul was with this definition of love, better still if you find this sort of love develop in your own life.

endures all things

Every relationship no matter how solid it is has assaults come against it. Every single relationship has its ups and downs yet if you have this form of love in your life you love will endure all things and it will last. There is something about endurance. Long distance runners have a lot of endurance. When the sweat is pouring down, the legs are aching and there is a cramp in your side, to continue running takes discipline. Such is the type of endurance you need in your relationship.

The divorce courts are full of people whose relationships do not endure all things. As a person whose own wife divorced him, I can relate to people in this situation, yet I know in nearly all instances it is because one party refuses to endure and work on the relationship and simply wants to get out.

Love, pure love, endures everything.

Love never fails.

It's been fifteen years since my divorce and I honestly love my wife more now then when we were married. God and pure love does not fail. It does not run out. It does not quit.

Love will not fail you. Your love if it is real will not fail, no matter if it is returned or not.

My prayers for my wife sent with my love have a good and positive effect on her life still. I know they are affecting her life because all my other prayers have results and so I don't need to be seeing her to know I am having an effect.

People may have a certificate of divorce, but if you love your former partner you love should never fail. For Paul says here true love never fails.

So relationships break down. Give the other party time to recover and then send them a card with your love expressed in it.

It's a myth that love has failed even when a divorce is given by a judge.

True love never fails!