Love Never Ends

Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:8-13 ESV).

In 2001, the Oscar for Best Picture was awarded to A Beautiful Mind. The movie tells the story of John Nash, a Princeton professor who overcame mental illness and developed theories that eventually led to his being awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics. As inspiring as the story is showing his fight against schizophrenia, the movie is even more impactful as a beautiful love story. Alicia Nash stuck by the often-deranged genius, loving him, caring for him, and steadying him, despite the fact that Nash brought nothing to the marriage but strain and heartache. Even though he was totally incapacitated because of his mental illness, she stuck with him, even at times when her own life was endangered. As the film concludes, John Nash stands before an admiring audience of the world’s greatest intellectuals, accepting the prize recognizing his monumental achievement. Nash uses the moment, the apex of his life, to declare that there was really only one thing that mattered in his life, and that was the love of his wife, who had stayed with him all those years. No matter what else was discovered in his life, Alicia Nash had taught the professor that there is no greater achievement than the commitment “for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, ’til death do us part.” The more I see our culture’s family implode, the more I am convinced that the concept of these phrase are simply lost on most people. As the divorce rate continues to approach 60% of first-time marriages and 85% of subsequent marriages we ought to take stock of what it really means to commit to our spouse in good and bad, rich and poor, and health and illness. The season of Thanksgiving is a great time to take stock of our true commitment to our families. While there are many of you who undoubtedly are walking through some of the bad times, please seek help to find your way through this part of your journey keeping your family intact. The bad will be turned to good, and the Lord will grant you peace in the end. Faith, hope, and love abide, but the greatest of these is love. Practice that in your life.