It’s why February is longer than January.
Not literally, of course. February just felt like a really long month compared to January, which usually gets the rep of being never-ending. My church focuses on teaching about romantic love in February, and at one point, I felt overwhelmed by the information overload.
It brought to mind something I have been pondering about. Anybody can claim to love you. Anybody can support you for a couple of months or years. Anybody can say they will always be there. But how do you know it is true love?
True love stays. When it is hard, when it doesn’t feel rewarding, when it is mundane. True love carries on beyond the sparks and excitement and digs in for something deeper. True love has a track record.
I’ve been thinking about this as I think about romantic relationships. I know it feels like everybody is getting married, but there is an equally large number of relationships that never work out. There are, of course, a myriad of reasons, but for a lot of people, it is the realisation that they do not want to stay.
Even as we wrap up February, I call you to look inward. If there’s anything that the relationship series taught me is that love is work. When you see your faves on social media with their cute pictures, and you sigh, ‘God, when’ I hope you realise that they work hard at their love every day. All I’m saying is that we must be willing to do the same. Maranatha says the rewards of a relationship (specifically, a marriage) outweigh its demands, and I agree. My emphasis today is to be willing to stay not just for the rewards but also for the responsibilities.
PS The best case study for consistent love is God. Romans 5:8 says, “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” God was willing to wait for us; He did wait for us, until we realised He was the greatest treasure worth having. I know people say things like ‘I’m not Jesus abeg‘, and they are right, but my counterargument is that His love can teach us what true love is. It becomes the standard by which we measure ourselves. We may often find that we perform drastically below His standards, but every day is another opportunity to try again. We are leaving February, but we don’t need to leave love behind. Choose your people (friends, family, romantic partner) and then choose to stay.
Photo Credit: Nick Fewings on Unsplash
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