March 12: Why I Believe In Love by Lenora Worth

I believe in love because love believes in me. Love has pulled me through some rough spots in my life and I truly believe love conquers all. I can’t imagine a life without some sort of love in it, whether it’s a love for family and friends, or a love for a favorite pet, or even a love of life itself. We all need love and we all need to believe in the power of love.

If you’ve ever read 1 Corinthians, Chapter 13 in the Bible, you can understand what I’m talking about. Love endures all things. True love is able to overcome a multitude of sins—those little everyday sins that can hurt us and those big, glaring sins that can change our lives forever. Love gives us the strength to ask for forgiveness, to be honest and humble, to be able to say we were wrong and we want another chance. It’s never easy, making mistakes then asking forgiveness, but when we have the strength of love on our side, we can persevere and shine through.

When I think about love, I think of my family. My husband and I married very young and the odds were against our marriage. We had a rocky start because we were still so immature, but as the years passed we managed to stay together because of the love and respect we held for each other and because we always turned to God to help us through any problems. We’ve tried to teach our children that love and loyalty should always hold fast over any other obstacles. And though we might fight and say words we’ll regret, we never turn from each other or hold grudges. That would make us empty and lifeless. We love and we live, we mess up and we clean up--together. That’s how important love is in any relationship.

There were times when I doubted love—I wondered about God’s love for me. How could He love someone who made such stupid mistakes, someone who never seemed to get anything right? But God’s constant love always brought me out of my dark worries and taught me that I could turn to Him to find my strength.

So now here I am—many years later and many years older! I’m much stronger today because of love. My immediate family gives me strength and gives me a comforting place when the world gets me down. I feel safe, knowing that my husband loves me and that my children can come to me with any concern. My life has been blessed by God’s grace and by the power of love. Love has given me the strength to follow my dreams, to take risks and meet challenges and to become a better person. Love rejoices in what is right. That doesn’t mean that I always make the right choices, or that I don’t mess up. But it does mean that if I need someone to hold me and tell me it’s going to be all right, I will find that someone in God and in the family I love so much.

I believe in Love because Love believes in me. And it surrounds me like a warm blanket each time I laugh or talk with a friend, each time I go to church and worship and each time I kiss my husband or tease my son or go shopping with my daughter. Love has given me life long friends. Love has taught me how to trust and to have faith. Without love, I would be nothing. Love truly does have the power to move mountains. But its greatest power is that still silent rendering that pours through our hearts and makes us more compassionate, more caring human beings.

That’s the power of love. It comes softly and it stays forever. How has love helped you in your own life? Does your love have staying power?

About Lenora Worth:

Lenora knew she wanted to be a writer after her fourth-grade teacher assigned a creative writing project. While the other children moaned and groaned, Lenora gleefully wrote her first story, then promptly sold it (for a quarter) on the playground.

She actually started selling in bookstores in 1993. Before joining Steeple Hill books, Lenora wrote for Avalon and Leisure. She's written 13 books for the Love Inspired series so far.