We have been lied to and convinced ourselves that true love doesn’t hurt. But it does! True love has a very painful price tag attached to it.

I think about the people in my life that I have loved – some very deeply and others not so deeply, but loved just the same. As I think about those on both sides, the song I’m inviting you to listen to deals more with those deeply loved in likeness to how God has loved mankind throughout time.

I think about the ones I have loved deeply and how some of their actions, words, and choices have broken my heart into a million pieces; some to the point of despair, depression, and thoughts of suicide.

The hurt did not stop me from loving them though. It just helped me understand and accept that hurt is a part of the human condition. There is no way to get around it – love hurts! God proclaimed to Eve after the fall … “16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.” (Genesis 3:16). Childbirth is a painful process, but nothing hurts as much as losing a child – in the womb or in the world – at any age! Just ask a parent or a woman unable to have children.

This song reminds me to be okay with pain being a part of life because it has been around since the first Adam died spiritually in the Garden of Eden. It describes the challenge of choosing to love those who at first interaction, first sight or over time appear to be unlovable. Those who provoke fear or dismay in the heart are the test of the unconditional love prescribed in the passage of Matthew 22:36-40 “…And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. …” (v.39).

Marriage is an area we practice God’s type of love; our children is another area to practice. It takes lots of practice, patience, and humility to love others When It Hurts! We are wounded by their words or the detrimental choices they make that sometimes lead to jail, the hospital, rehab, or homelessness.

Learning to love others, even when it hurts, is rewarding in its own way. You learn to pray for them and reach out your hand to lift them up. Because when you do, in the Spirit, you are reminded that God has chosen to love you … Even When It Hurts.

Enjoy When It Hurts here by Evan Ford, Lightmuzik, Evan and Eris