CAN YOU LOSE LOVE?

Grief – why do we tiptoe around this word so softly? Well, I think the easy answer is because it hurts SO BAD! There are so many different causes of grief for example:

You may grieving due to the changes that come along with being an “empty nester.” Your life revolves around those sweet babies for so long, it’s hard not to grieve what once was your everyday normal once it’s gone.

You may be grieving the loss of a job. So many have suffered from the fallout caused by COVID recently. When your means of living becomes an unknown, it’s hard not to fear for what’s ahead for you and your family.

Today especially, you may be grieving the loss of a loved one. This is arguably the most difficult form of grief to endure and it’s because it involves what feels like the loss of love.

But I have to ask the question, can you really lose love when it comes to a person that’s no longer here?

Webster dictionary defines love as:

noun
1. an intense feeling of deep affection

The words “intense” and “deep” here say it all. When you love someone deeply while they are here, how much more do you love them when they are gone? The saying “you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone” couldn’t possibly be more true. 

One of my favorite quotes on grief is:

“Grief, I’ve learned, is really just love. It’s all the love you want to give, but cannot. All that unspent love gathers up in the corners of your eyes, the lump in your throat, and in that hollow part of your chest. Grief is just love with no place to go.”

Jamie Anderson

This. This feeling of being lost that follows loss is spot on. It makes me realize what an INCREDIBLE gift the ability to show affection to others is. We can show love by our words, by touch, and by our actions. How blessed are we to have these abilities. 

What I would give to express my deepest love to Allorah once more by holding her close and hugging her & and telling her how deeply I love her. I would give ANYTHING just to have her cheek against mine one more time and to hold her sweet, precious hands. 

I could go on and on with all the ways I would show my love for my girl if she were here. Even though I expressed my love to her as much as possible, I will always feel like I could have done more. I know this Valentine’s Day I won’t get to watch her light up with presents from her amazing father and family. I won’t get to dress her in matching Valentine’s Day outfits with her big sister. Heck, I miss just not getting to wake up and see her smiling face to say, “Happy Valentine’s Day, Lora.”

All these things, abilities that we TOO OFTEN take for granted, are the very things I wish for the most and struggle with… until I remember the most important definition of LOVE there is – GOD.

GOD IS LOVE.

Paul tells us in God’s Word what love is:

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

‭‭I Corinthians‬ ‭13:4-8‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

LOVE NEVER FAILS. 

True love never fails. We may lose a loved one, but we never EVER lose the love. The longing we have to express our love to our loved one only makes the love grow stronger. 

How amazing is it that the same holds true with God’s love for us? We may mess up in this life over and over again, but we will never lose God’s love. 

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or anguish, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Even as it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; We were accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭8:35-39‬ ‭ASV‬‬

I have heard this verse many times, but today I am overcome with God’s love and his ability to love us NO MATTER WHAT!

If that isn’t enough, He knows our hearts. He knows that losing a loved one causes us great sorrow in this life, and so in His divine knowledge and planning, gave us His most wonderful promise – If we obey His Word, He promises us that we can see our loved ones again. 

It’s because of God that we were given the gift of LOVING Allorah while she was here. It’s because of God that our love grows stronger as we miss her presence. It’s because of God that we can reach salvation and KNOW that we will get to share our lives with her in eternity one day.

So on this Valentine’s Day, if you are grieving the loss of a loved one – we feel you. We deeply understand your pain, but also implore you to realize what a beautiful opportunity it is. The opportunity to reminisce in the gift that love is, share memories of that person, and to ensure that you express love to all those that matter most in your life. Find new ways to express that love and even though it hurts in depths you didn’t know possible… know that your love can grow until you meet them again one day.

GOD’S LOVE NEVER FAILS… ours shouldn’t either!

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY from THIS HOPEFUL HIVE!!!