A Family Matter
Whose family isn't complicated?
It wasn't meant to be that way. The love of God is patient, kind, protective, and caring. God walks with us through the long haul, and perseveres in hope for us. When God established marriage, it was for work, companionship, completion, intimacy, and pleasure. Children were to be raised with that same persevering love; abandonment, abuse, and loss were not part of the design.
So where did we go wrong? This answer lies in a myriad of reasons too numerous to count, let alone describe. But the answer is more simple than you might think and harder than you might imagine.
A lifelong, close-knit, devoted family is your destiny, and the route to get there is the restoration of love. This love is not trite, and it's not just the warm fuzzies of affection, it's so much more than that. It's self-discipline, mutual passion, fierce loyalty, and sacrifice. It takes hard work and perseverance, a perseverance whose rewards are deep and unfathomable, which bring us deeper into glimpses of the character of God.
Love is patient,
love is kind.
It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.