1 Corinthians 13:8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.

Love never fails. As I said before, Paul wrote these words in the middle of a discussion on spiritual gifts. All of those gifts, whether they be tongues or prophecies or knowledge, are temporary and will pass away. But love, God’s love, lasts forever.

There are songs that have lyrics like “and I will always love you” or “my love for you will never die.” But those songs describe emotions, which change. All the failed relationships in the world testify to that. The way people speak of falling in love and out of love tells you that they mean something different than the love Paul is writing about here. There is a love that really does last, a love that is permanent. That is God’s love. Genuine love, the kind with which God loves you, will persist. It is permanent.

We look for things of permanence in an always-changing world. Whether we like it or not, things change. Things change in our congregation: some folks move away, some go to heaven, new folks come in. Things change, and often times change scares us. It makes us uncomfortable. That is why we take comfort in things that remain constant, things that stay the same.

Jeremiah 31:3 The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.”

Psalm 103:17 But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children—

The greatest comfort of all is to be found in the permanence of the love of God. It does not change. God’s love for you does not stop. He loves you with an everlasting love.