{"id":15879,"date":"2013-11-22T01:00:47","date_gmt":"2013-11-22T07:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/?p=15879"},"modified":"2013-11-22T05:51:44","modified_gmt":"2013-11-22T11:51:44","slug":"16-day-love-challenge-chapter-16-love-never-fails","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/2013\/11\/22\/16-day-love-challenge-chapter-16-love-never-fails\/","title":{"rendered":"16 Day Love Challenge: Chapter 16 – Love Never Fails"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"16daylovechallengeneverfails\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Love is patient, love is kind.
\nIt does not envy, it does not boast; it is not proud.
\nIt does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking,
\nIt is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
\nLove does not delight in evil but rejoices with the Truth.
\nIt always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
\nLove never fails.
\n1 Corinthians 13:4-8<\/p>\n

Quite a list of accomplishments, wouldn\u2019t you say? \u00a0Perhaps you might say to yourself, \u2018Do you really<\/em> think anyone can do that\u2014love that way?\u2019 \u00a0Well, I DO know someONE Who can! \u00a0(You do, too!) \u00a0Our Father, Almighty God, the Great I AM…He can! And He does!<\/p>\n

Here are a few verses just to remind us of God\u2019s never failing<\/strong> <\/em>love.<\/p>\n

But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
\nI will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me.
\nPsalms 13:5 and 6<\/p>\n

I have loved you with an everlasting love….
\nJeremiah 31:3<\/p>\n

Psalm 136<\/a> tells us \u201cGive thanks to the LORD, for He is good, for His love endures forever.\u201d And this truth is reiterated in every single verse throughout this psalm…26 times!<\/p>\n

As our study of the 16 Day Love Challenge: Matching our Words and Actions with 1 Corinthians 13:4-8<\/em> draws to a close, we look at God\u2019s final statement in this passage about LOVE.<\/p>\n

Love never fails.
\n1 Corinthians 13:8<\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t say \u2018almost never\u2019 or \u2018almost all the time\u2019 or \u201899 out of 100 times\u2019, does it? \u00a0No, ma\u2019am…it says \u2018Love never fails.\u2019<\/p>\n

\n

never (adverb)<\/h3>\n

1. at no time in the past or future; on no occasion; not ever.
\nsynonyms: not ever, at no time, not at any time, not once, ne\u2019er.<\/p>\n

2. not at all
\nsynonyms: certainly not, not for a moment, under no circumstances, on no account<\/p>\n

(and here are a few informal synonyms: no way, not on your life, not in a million years, when pigs fly, when hell freezes over.)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Can I tell you something? \u00a0I do know someone else, besides our great God who can love that way! \u00a0Really! \u00a0It is y.o.u. \u00a0Yes, my friend, you CAN love others in that same way! \u00a0Hey, now, no scoffing, no pshawing, no doubting\u2014the Scriptures clearly communicate this!<\/p>\n

…Because God\u2019s love has been poured into our hearts
\nthrough the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
\nRomans 5:5<\/p>\n

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another,
\neven as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if You have love for one another.
\nJohn 13:34-35<\/p>\n

This is my commandment: that you love one another as I have loved you.
\nJohn 15:12<\/p>\n

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God
\nand whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.
\nAnyone who does not love does not know God,
\nbecause God is love.
\nBeloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
\n1 John 4:7-8, 11<\/p>\n

God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God and God in them.<\/p>\n

This is how love is perfected with us
\nso that we will have confidence on the day of Judgment;
\nbecause as He is, so are we in this world.
\nVerses 16 and 17<\/p>\n

And He has given us this command:
\nanyone who loves God must also love their brother or sister.
\nVerse 21<\/p>\n

God\u2019s Word is Truth! \u00a0And so, we are what the Word of God says that we are! \u00a0We ARE able to love as God loves. \u00a0As we were reminded the other day by Cherie, truth is not determined by our experience but simply by the Truth of the Scriptures.<\/p>\n

Try this! Read through these verses again (out loud, please!), inserting your name along with \u2018love.\u2019 Like this…<\/p>\n

{Cherie\u2019s} love is patient, {Rebecca\u2019s} love is kind.
\n{Kim\u2019s love} does not envy, {Cynda\u2019s love} does not boast; {Rae Ann\u2019s love} is not proud.
\n{Darcie\u2019s love} does not dishonor others, {Jennifer\u2019s love} is not self-seeking,
\n{Cyndie\u2019s love} is not easily angered, {Clella\u2019s love} keeps no record of wrongs.
\n{Beverly\u2019s} love does not delight in evil but {Robin\u2019s love} rejoices with the Truth.
\n{Shari\u2019s love} always protects, {Chelle\u2019s love} always trusts,
\n{Kristen\u2018s love} always hopes, {Aminah\u2018s love} always perseveres.
\n{Christi\u2019s} love never fails.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Let\u2019s<\/strong> Pra<\/strong>y<\/strong><\/span>:
\nLord, we are so thankful that it was Your plan for us to study together and to work the 16 Day Love Challenge together!!! \u00a0Our lives are forever changed. \u00a0We do so need Your help through the Holy Spirit that You have placed within us, Lord! \u00a0You know (we do, too) that there will be times we are tempted to think that we cannot love like this. \u00a0Help us to recognize that lie and to replace it with the Truth that we can love because You have placed Your love within us! Today may we reach out to everyone around us with Your love that is in our hearts! \u00a0Thank You, Lord! \u00a0It is only because of Your great grace and mercy! \u00a0We pray these things in Jesus\u2019 name. \u00a0Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  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, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":15880,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[8],"tags":[2461,4585,4586,4584,4588,4347,235,1287,425,552,4465,4583,4587,3153,4581,4424,4582,1141],"class_list":["post-15879","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-womens","tag-1-corinthians-134-8","tag-1-john-416-17","tag-1-john-421","tag-1-john-47-8","tag-16-dy-love-challenge","tag-cherie-zack","tag-coleen-hayden","tag-gch","tag-girlfriends-coffee-hour","tag-jeremiah-313","tag-john-1334-35","tag-john-1512","tag-love-never-fails","tag-psalm-136","tag-psalms-135-6","tag-rebecca-lecompte","tag-romans-55","tag-womens-online-bible-study","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/16daylovechallengeneverfails.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p39pHp-487","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15879","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15879"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15879\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15886,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15879\/revisions\/15886"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15880"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15879"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15879"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}