Today in church service, the sermon was on my favorite chapter of the Bible, 1 Corinthians 13. It is probably one of the most famous set of scriptures, as it discusses something we all long for at some point: love.

In the spirit of the month of February, and being that the world just celebrated what we call “Love Day”, the sermon felt very fitting.

Personally, love has been a topic heavy on my mind for some time now. I will soon be ending my 4th year single. Throughout this time, I have learned a lot about myself, who I want to love and who I want to love me. Today, I felt a new shift in my perspective on who and how I should love and be loved.

Some things that I took from today’s topic were that the love discussed in 1 Corinthians was built on the foundation of actions. It’s more meaningful to see the fruits of someone’s actions, rather than the words. Anyone can say the words, “I love you,” but the actions: being patient, being kind, not being jealous, or self-seeking, showing consistency in those actions; those are the foundations in which you should base love.

Verse 8 is also very important in that it begins with a solid affirming statement: love NEVER fails. What I learned today, is that if love fails, then was it ever love?

This portion of scripture always allows me to reflect on where love has failed in my life. I’ve experienced a love that failed. When I think back, and parallel that to scripture, I realize that the love I was giving was not a love that wouldn’t have failed. The love I gave was not always patient, or kind. I begged for love when it was not present, it was not always protecting, trusting, hopeful and because of that it did not persevere.

So what I lean on is that if I continue to focus on how consistent I am in how I love others, and myself, love will never fail. I will continue staying mindful in prayer regarding the discernment for love, and the consistency I need in myself to succeed. Love will always prevail if it is based on how God shows us love everyday.