Sunday, April 04, 2021

Does love always win?

So this morning in church a poem was read. I didn't catch the title or author but it included the line, 'Love always wins'. This was followed by a number of speakers saying why they thought love always wins.*

I've been pondering on this and I disagree.

Love underpins, love endures, it 'always protects, trusts, hopes, perseveres'. (1 Cor 13) It never fails. Love wins the final battle but in this broken and imperfect world sometimes love loses.

Or maybe I should say it appears to lose. That would be the proper Christian response but try telling a grieving husband that it's okay, God has it all in hand, it's in his timing, and this is a victory, and he'd be right to shut the door in your face.

While death and other grievous wrongs are in the world, love will sometimes lose.

And all I can do then is hang on to God and trust, hope, persevere.

* Jo, one of the speakers, wasn't in total agreement but rephrased it as, 'Agape (God's sacrificial unconditional love) continually prevails.' 



11 comments:

nick said...

Love doesn't win if the object of your love doesn't love you. Then it's a case of love can often disappoint.

Debra She Who Seeks said...

Love always wins in fairy tales. In the real world, no.

Kathy G said...

I would tend to agree with Jo's assessment. God's unconditional love is perfect. Human love falls short.

Marie Smith said...

I agree. Love doesn’t always win in the real world.

Janie Junebug said...

If love always won, my son wouldn't be an alcoholic.

Love,
Janie

PipeTobacco said...

Hmm.

I would say that LOVE ultimately wins..... but over the course of a life, there may be times where it FEELS that love loses.

PipeTobacco

Liz Hinds said...

It can, Nick, only too often.

Debra, Marie, agreed.

I think it's the word 'wins' that I would disagree with, Kathy.

Precisely, Janie. It is a broken world and many are hurt.

PipeTobacco said...

And, for me, I believe the ULTIMATE winning of love may not be noticeable here on Earth..... but in terms of faith (and even, in my opinion, in terms of philosophy alone for those who do not ascribe to a faith)..... love is REALLY what YOU give of yourself to others.... and whatever love you DO give is MORE or BETTER or.... more “winning” than any alternative.

PipeTobacco

Liz Hinds said...

True, PipeTobacco. Love has the ultimate victory.

pam nash said...

Love doesn't always win. We all were brought up on the "happily ever after" fairy tale. But, sometimes it just doesn't happen no matter how hard you try.

Boud said...

There's a difference between romantic human relationship love and the kind of union with some spirit, God, Gaia, whatever, that doesn't win so much as endure and prevail. It's not about winning and losing. But we do fall into that trap.