The consequences of love can be heartbreaking
Between my teen years of 13 and 17 I began to truly appreciate the beauty and allure of…girls. I was one of those rare boys who never had an aversion to girls. In fact, I was always attracted to them. But during those teen years I noticed girls were also changing. It wasn’t just me. However, I had a distinct disadvantage in the boyfriend/girlfriend department. My parents had divorced when I was four, and they moved two states apart. So, each year I spent school months in Texas and summer months in Kansas. That meant, when it came to having a girlfriend in either place, no matter what I’d be giving her up in short order. And falling in love was out of the question. But like any teenager, I still would. And it seemed to me the consequences of love were heartbreak and fading memories.
After graduating high school, I was able to stay in one place for more than a year. That happened to be Kansas. And I developed my first true love with a girl, and it didn’t have to end after three months. If you remember your first true love, you probably recall how important it is to spend every possible moment with that person. Right? Gotta get to know each other. Every detail, nuance, and story.
Distance does not make all hearts grow fonder.
My first true love lasted about four and a half years. Even though I had calculated it would be the rest of my life, the relationship did not endure a separation when I moved to Texas to be there for my dad who was suffering from terminal kidney failure. And after “getting over” the lost love, I discovered I could actually love again. Another multiple year relationship developed, blossomed, became tumultuous, and ended. That’s when I decided the consequences of love were too much strain on me. So, I decided to “play the field”. You know…check out all the other “fish in the ocean”.
That worked out great! Not!
In spite of my Christian background, I decided no other girl was gonna break my heart…and get away with it. And since I was a professional musician by then, I’d use my platform (which was an actual platform…a stage) to impress and woo the opposite sex. For once, I’d be the heartbreaker…if there were gonna be any hearts broken. No woman was gonna ever get the best of me again.
And still I dealt with consequences.
Guilt. Shame. Conscience. A still, small voice would confront me each time I did what I shouldn’t do. Of course, I continued to ignore that voice for a few years, but it was there each time nevertheless. Why wouldn’t that voice let me have my fun?! Why did it have to be there every…single…time?
Eventually I discovered that’s what true love does. It confronts you when you need confronting. True love can instruct you, deconstruct you, make you fly, or shoot you down, or even shine a light in the darkest parts of your heart. That kind of true love is based on God’s enduring love. I discovered His love is bigger than problems. It’s more important than your “feelings”. His love has endured every stupid mistake we human beings can muster. And we muster a multitude of them every day. That’s amazing.
The consequences of love from God are eternal life.
I’m so grateful and thankful God never left me. He never gave up on me. And He still works on me when I stumble back into my self. There’s a comfort and joy in His love that no other human being will ever be able to give you. All you gotta do is ask Him for it, and you’ll get it. It will last forever. And it’s more real than any heartbreak or loss you’re experiencing right now. After studying evidence for decades, I’m more convinced than ever of the reality of our one, true, living, loving Creator. Nothing and no one else could explain love. Love does not evolve. Love is given. Are you receiving it?
I’ll be sharing a song about consequences in the next episode of the FunderCast.
Stay tuned,
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