And now I will show you a more excellent way...

In reading through Tying the Knot by Rob Green (the source of all the quotes below), and discussing it with Josiah (and our premarital counselors), I've been thinking about the Biblical definition of love. Borrowing heavily from the two aforementioned sources, here are some thoughts...

Love bears all things,
Believes all things,
Hopes all things,
Endures all things.
Love never fails
(1 Corinthians 13:7-8)

    In every loving relationship there will be irritants - annoyances, burdens, issues that are mostly small and everyday. Love bears these things, sharing the burdens and forgiving the annoyances. Love also bears with "life" together - sharing and caring amidst the challenges of this fallen world.
    Sometimes these things get personal - sometimes the hurt we experience comes from genuine (seeming) slights and offenses. In this case, love believes all things, choosing to believe in the other's genuine love and care for them and genuine lack of desire to hurt them, in spite of appearances. Love is willing to take risks, to be open and honest and loving, even knowing that hurt may come again. "Jesus is our rock and our fortress; that enables us to believe the best, even when we are tempted to think the worst."
    But it's hard to get hurt over and over again, and that's when love hopes all things. Love hopes that change will happen. Love believes that as God Himself has promised, so He will do: He will grow us (and the object of our love) and change us (and the object of our love) and make us all more like Him if we are His. That is the Biblical definition of hope: confidence in the promises of the Lord, and therefore the bright and wonderful future that we are being transformed in preparation for.
    But sometimes you're burnt out, worn out, and losing sight of hope... and that is when love endures all things. Love sticks it through, refusing to give up despite all odds, in hope that hope will someday return:
Love Never Fails.

"God is saying there is nothing that love can't handle."
Why?
Jesus' love didn't.