LOVE IS THE BEST REMEDY

 LOVE IS THE BEST REMEDY

 I read an intriguing article about a couple who had been happily married for fifteen years.  However, when the challenges of life pressed hard upon their family, they began having more than their usual share of disagreements.  Both really wanted to make their marriage work, so they agreed on an idea that had the potential to improve their communications and provide practical solutions to the small issues that seemed to trouble them.  Every day, for one full month, each one would drop a slip of paper into ‘his and her’ boxes that would be labeled, ‘The Fault Box.’  This would offer a simple and systematic way to make one’s spouse aware of any matrimonial discomforts or irritations.

 The wife was rather diligent in her efforts, quite organized in her approach.  She wrote things like this: “Leaving the top off the jelly jar,” or “Wet towels on the bathroom floor,” or “Dirty clothes not put in the hamper,” – recording each of her concerns diligently until the end of the month.  On the last day of that month, they exchanged each other’s ‘Fault Box’ after evening dinner.  The husband read his first.  He reflected carefully on the many things his wife had noted and genuinely repented of all his ‘sins.’  Then the wife opened her box and slowly began reading aloud every one of her husband’s notes.  The same message was recorded on every slip of paper.  It simply said, “I love you!”

 Those three powerful words changed the emotional configuration of their troubled marriage.

 This true story reminds me of a life-changing passage on love that is recorded in The Holy Writ.  It’s so important that I’ll cite it below in two Bible translations.  Prayerfully ponder both.

 I Corinthians 13:4-7 (New King James Version)

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.

 I Corinthians 13:4-7 (The Message Bible)

Love never gives up.  Love cares more for others than for self.  Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.  Love doesn’t strut, doesn’t have a swelled head, doesn’t force itself on others, isn’t always “me first,” doesn’t fly off the handle, doesn’t keep score of the sins of others, doesn’t revel when others grovel, takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, puts up with anything, trusts God always, always looks for the best, never looks back, but keeps going to the end.

 Obviously, a husband and a wife should be open to hear and attend to the heartfelt concerns of their spouse.  Always.  Nevertheless, the absolute best remedy for resolving any misunderstanding, any disagreement, or any relationship issue is the consistent application of love.  Period, end of report.

 Sisters and brothers, be continually blessed, and please (above all else) MAKE SURE YOU ARE READY TO MEET OUR SOON COMING KING. Maranatha!