Relationships, Telenovelas and God’s Plot-Twisting Love

I grew up watching soap operas. How about you? Do you remember following the various relationships in “Rubi,” “Mari Mar” and “La Usurpadora?”

Ooooh, the drama was so over the top, but I loved every minute of it. I would try to do my make up like the stars, and pranced around my house like the real deal. The romance was worthy of my time and always delivered the best plot twist ever!

Telenovelas, Disney, and “The Notebook” taught me about romance; so my perception of relationships was a tad bit off. 

Some of the myths I believed about relationships were:

• If I find the “right” person, they will complete me
• Couples in good relationships don’t argue 
• My partner should cater to my every need

In my early 20’s, as I weaned myself off of telenovelas and entered into new relationships (that obviously never ended well), I soon realized what I believed about relationships was incredibly wrong.

Over time, with age, independence, and knowledge of biblical truths, I came to find the truth about relationships and life lessons from an ancient book… PLOT TWIST! And yes, this ancient book is still applicable to our lives today.  Let’s dive into 1 Corinthians 13:4-7…

Love is patient, love is kind

• Love is patient. The dictionary defines patience as “able to accept or tolerate delays, problems, or suffering without becoming annoyed or anxious.” It doesn’t imply indifference, which would ignore an offense.
• Love is always kind. Kindness is “the quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate.” 

Love does not envy

• Envy is “a feeling of discontented or resentful longing aroused by someone else’s possessions, qualities, or luck.” Love is not displeased when others achieve success.

Love does not boast

• Boasting is to “talk with excessive pride and self-satisfaction about one’s achievements, possessions, or abilities.” Love does not boast. Love celebrates others with sincerity, and does not exalt oneself over another in relationships.

Love is not proud

• Pride is “having or showing a high or excessively high opinion of oneself or one’s importance.” Love isn’t overly confident, arrogant or selfish. Love is humble; it thinks of oneself less often. 

It is not rude

• Rude means “to be offensively impolite or ill-mannered.” No, love is polite. It considers others and doesn’t disgrace others in private or in person. 

Love is not self-seeking

• This love does not put their own good above others. It’s not selfish, nor does it have an all-about-me mentality. 

Love does not easily anger

• Much like patience, this love isn’t easily annoyed or quick to pass judgement in our relationships with others. It has self-control and remains calm. 

Love keeps no record of wrongs

• This love forgives. It doesn’t hold on to the past or hold somseone’s offenses against them. 

Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth 

• True love seeks righteousness and stays clear of evil things. This love shares the truth, in love. 

Love protects, trust, hopes, perseveres

• Love protects from sin, it wont bring shame on anyone.
• Love trusts… it expects and sees the best in others.
• Love hopes: it hopes for the best in others, knowing that God is faithful to complete the work He began in us. This hope encourages us to keep going in faith, and in love. 
• Love perserves; it doesnt give up. It keeps on going when the going gets tough. 

Love never fails

PLOT TWIST, again! This love doesn’t refer to our partner’s love for us (and let’s be real, we’ve all failed). This text refers to God’s unfailing love! This kind of love goes above and beyond, to reconcile us to Himself.

You see, if you are still reading this, it’s not by coincidence that you are still here.  When it comes to relationships and love, we can’t give something that we don’t have. We can try, and try, and try, and continually fail. However, with God, we can. We can learn to love a little bit better, day by day, because God is love.  

Relationships, telenovelas, and the plot-twisting love of God.  Where do you stand?