When Love Hurts

Read: 2 Corinthians 2:4
For I wrote to you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you.

Relationships are hard.

Marriage, which often is seen as your closest relationship with any other person, is also the hardest relationship you will have with any other person. I constantly disappoint my wife, whom I love deeply. I speak the wrong word, carry the wrong attitude, and do the wrong things more than I want to admit. Yet, because of my love for her and her love for me, we fight the good and hard fight of staying married.

Paul is writing from a place of deep hurt within a deep relationship. The people in Corinth have abandoned Paul for a rivaling faction that belittles him. Paul writes this letter and the previous “Severe Letter” through tears of love, not tears of weakness. He cares so much about these men and women in the church that he is willing to be hurt for their sake.

This is what love looks like—being willing to be hurt for the sake of another’s good. This is the love we see from our God, who willingly marched to the cross, not defending self but denying self, all for the sake of love. Jesus lays down His life for His friends and calls us to do the same.

While we wish all relationships would cruise on calm waters, that is not the reality. I want to challenge you today to love even when it is hard, even when it hurts, even when it brings tears. Love them by doing what is right, good, and helpful even when it is hard.
Love them by being a voice of encouragement, an ear to listen, or a hand to help.

Remember, it is not loving to simply avoid or ignore issues. In the name of peace, we are tempted not to love. Loving requires doing the hard work of restoration and reconciliation in a relationship!

Don’t take the easy way out! Have the conversation, share the hurt, ask the questions!