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Writer's pictureSherry Hoppen

LOVE NEVER FAILS

Updated: Aug 18, 2023

When our family decided to put these words on my brother's headstone, I was too angry to give those three words any credibility. I had no idea that it would be one of the biggest lessons I would learn in life. In my 20's it made no sense. In my 50's its becoming clear.  

Love never fails. Like many others who have read those words and wanted to scream YES, it does fail! Break out in song and sing the 80's version of Love Stinks with an air guitar and your face to the sun with your eyes closed. 


Loving hurts

Love makes me vulnerable

Love is risky

Love does fail.


Wait, put down the guitar, wrong kind of love.


It is not the Love of God that fails us. When we're talking about God's Love, it will not fail you. 


Love is patient and kind; Love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (ESV)


God is Love, and therefore, he is all those things.

 When we're talking about God's Love, it will not fail you. 


At the end of the day, sometimes, it's all we have. That's what I feel when I stand l at the graveside, looking at the image of a 24-year-old guy with a mullet and his shit-eating grin. I read those words and feel differently; I feel loyalty from God and his Love for me in those words. He continues to love me through this and many other things. 


I thought I could not bear it when my brother died, but somehow I did.

I had to believe that God and only God's Love could bring my family through this awful time.

I had to have hope that we would have joy again in our loves. 

Only God can give us what we need to endure the horrible pain of losing someone you love. 


His Love is there for us in addiction as well. I see every day how he continues to love me through it.  

When I surrendered on my knees to God and said, "Take it, I'll do whatever you want me to." It was the day life changed forever, and I felt God's Love like never before. 


This excerpt from my book Sober Cycle is an undeniable truth of God's Love for me at my very lowest point. 


This liquid that remains has the power to take away everything, Sherry. Every single thing you love and every single thing you desire for your life. With one hand raised to God and the other unscrewing the bottle over the sink, I say, "God take it. I surrender my life with this demon and give it to you. I'm yours." The bottle is empty, but the smell of the vodka lingers and is putrid to my nostrils. I drop the bottle and now both hands are free, and now I'm raising both of them to God.

Bruised and beaten, I walk away from the war with alcohol I've been fighting for years. 


My surrender moment is a true example of receiving Agape love. Agape Love is unconditional, and God is asking nothing of me in return after the way I had turned my back on him for so many years. He has walked alongside me so closely in Recovery, and I deeply feel his Love for me. 


Jesus said, "Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them."John 14:21, NLT


I fall short every day of faithful obedience, yet his Love Never Fails.


Love Never Fails. I believe it with all my heart and I pray you do too❤️



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