I received a letter the other day from a reader who said that she put everything she could into loving her husband and working on their marriage, but it wasn’t enough. Despite all of her effort, he wanted to end their relationship. I’m reminded of some friendships I’ve had that crumbled regardless of how much I tried to hold things together. In the end I was left with a feeling of failure, asking myself “What did I do wrong?” and “What’s wrong with me?” I still ask myself those questions even in situations where I’ve done everything I could to make things better.

Broken relationships can leave us feeling rejected, despised, and alone. And yes, we might be alone and rejected for a while, but one look at the life and death of Jesus Christ tells me that rejection doesn’t define who we are.

He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. ~ Isaiah 53:3, NIV

We can’t change the hearts and the minds of those around us. All we can do is choose to love people the way that Jesus loved us.

How does He display His love to us? By offering forgiveness and grace; both lessons that mankind will never perfect, but by His sacrificial gift of love we watch and we learn.

And finally, we cannot forget the resurrecting power of God. There is nothing too difficult for Him to handle including a broken marriage. If that same spirit that removed Christ from the tomb and lifted Him into the heavens is living and moving in you, be assured that God can do immeasurably more than you could ever imagine for yourself.

Never give up on love.

You are loved by an almighty God,

Darlene Schacht