Enduring Love - What's That Mean?

When you hear the words "enduring love" what comes to your mind? According to my "smart phone app", Dictionary.com, endure means:
 * to go through something
 * to support adverse force or influence of any kind
 * to suffer without yielding; to suffer patiently
 * to continue to exist; to last
 * to have or gain continued, lasting acknowledgment or recognition, as of worth, merit or greatness
 * to hold out against; to sustain without impairment or yielding

For me, in most cases, enduring would most accurately mean putting up with something not very pleasant. So, what about me? Do I love anyone with an enduring love? If so... who? 

I love my husband. He's a man. I'm a woman. And gender difference alone seems to put us at odds often enough. Thankfully those differences don't hinder our relationship. With regards to our convictions & beliefs, he's a believer, like me. But, I'm very vocal about my beliefs & convictions where he's on the quiet side of that equation. I would guess he'd rather I be less demonstrative. As for me, I'm almost always wishing he'd be more demonstrative. That doesn't stop me from loving him though! So, I love my husband (aka the LOML) with an enduring love.

I love both of my children. From the terrible two's (which was actually the terrible three's for both) to the teen years & into young adulthood, we've had our share of up's & down's. They've made choices contrary to what we thought we were teaching them. They haven't been perfect kids. And, we certainly haven't been perfect parents! Sounds like there is some enduring love on both sides there :)

Since the word endure reminds me of suffering or battling through something, when I read about a "love that endures forever", I stop to ponder its meaning. The following scripture is found throughout the Bible -- used in 5 separate Psalms, as well as several other books of the Bible. It's probably a pretty familiar verse to most believers:

"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! His faithful love endures forever." 1 Chronicles 16:34 NLT 

The fact that God's love is faithful and it endures forever, brings such comfort to me. It reminds me that there's GRACE from God for mistakes that happen or poor choices I make. It reminds me that God's love doesn't lessen when I pull away from Him. 

He loves us where we are... how we are... why we are... WITH A FAITHFUL & ENDURING LOVE!

Linking with Ann Voskamp - A Holy Experience today...