Love Keeps No Record of Wrongs

At our wedding our friend, and youth pastor at the time, Darren Bartholomew officiated our vows. He is a fun guy with a dry sense of humor.  During the ceremony he began to share with us from 1 Corinthians 13. The phrase that reads, “love keeps no record of wrongs,” he said then repeated it, then repeated it a 3^rd time. This time slowing down with an emphasis on each word which caused a chuckle throughout the room. It was cute and funny and we all could tell he was trying to get a point across to this very young couple in front of him embarking on one of life’s biggest challenges, marriage. Today we celebrate our 16^th wedding anniversary. I am still in awe that I could love someone more today than I did the day I said “I do.”

However, it has not been an easy path. It never is. Darren’s voice as he repeated the phrase “Love keeps no record of wrongs” has echoed in my ears many times over the years. So many times I have wanted to make a list of the ways my husband has screwed up or annoyed me. Some of them have been extremely minute and silly. Some have seemed huge and some were monetarily costly mistakes. The moment I begin to “stamp collect” those wrongs is when resentment starts to build in my heart. Soon everything becomes annoying; the things he says, the way he parents, how he leaves his socks on the floor at night or seems to never put his dirty shirts IN the hamper. I suddenly find myself becoming blind to all the good that he does. I don’t see that he cooks for me when I’m exhausted or encourages my passions in life and my girls’ nights out. That he fixes my computer EVERY single time I ask him without complaint or listens to me unload the happenings of my day after his own long day in the office. When I stop keeping record of how he frustrates me and look at how he loves me in his own special way it makes my heart soften towards him. I can have empathy and extend grace when he gets a $200 traffic ticket or takes both car keys on accident and leaves me stranded at home. We all make mistakes in our marriage and relationships and we have no right to hold the other person to a higher standard than we require ourselves. I am so glad that in those moments I hear Darren’s comical way of reminding me that “Love is patient, Love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs, it keeps no record of wrongs, LOVE KEEPS. NO RECORD. OF WRONGS. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes and always perseveres. Love never fails.” What would our marriages, parent-child relationships or friendships look like if we all could remember that love keeps no record of wrongs?