Love is Eternal
Table Talk
Setting the Table
You are welcome here. Come just as you are, bringing whatever is on your heart today. Take a few moments and allow yourself to just be. Take a couple deep breaths, grab yourself a cup of coffee, light a candle, do something that brings you comfort. Allow yourself to be present in this moment.
Consider how once love is given, it continues on in ways we may never see.
Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.
— Mother Teresa
1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (GNT)
Love is patient and kind; it is not jealous or conceited or proud; love is not ill-mannered or selfish or irritable; love does not keep a record of wrongs; love is not happy with evil, but is happy with the truth. Love never gives up; and its faith, hope, and patience never fail. Love is eternal.
Matthew 22: 36-40
“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Food for Thought
“Love is a turtle.” Yes, you read that correctly. Let me explain. “Love is a turtle” is a phrase I’ve been hearing around my house lately because of a simple misunderstanding. I am not sure if it was my southern accent, or if I just didn’t enunciate well, but what I actually said was, “Love is eternal,” a phrase I heard repeatedly growing up. Needless to say, “Love is a turtle” is what stuck. It’s become my family’s little inside joke, and now our house is full of turtle figurines, turtle stuffies, turtle jewelry… It may be getting a little over the top, but it’s silly and sweet, and every time I see these turtles, I am reminded of the intended phrase.
“Love is eternal.” My grandparents would recite this often — to us and to one another. It was inscribed on their wedding bands, and it is inscribed on my own. But it wasn’t just something that was said, it was their way of living. I can remember them telling stories of their early life together — marrying at the early age of 17 and becoming parents of multiple children before the age of 20. Sacrificing for one another as they each took turns going back to school. Supporting each other through business ventures and career changes. Serving together across cities and states after being called into ministry, and holding each other up through trials and moments of loss. The love that they spoke of, and the love they shared, was much more than a feeling. It was a love built on trust, on respect, on commitment, and on selfless sacrifice.
It was a love that wasn’t limited, but one that spilled out beyond themselves to their family and community. They would often advocate and raise awareness for local and world hunger; they would speak out in the face of injustice; they welcomed the stranger to the Sunday lunch table; they believed in serving the least of these and grieved with the brokenhearted; and they sought out what Jesus commanded us to do, “To love God, and to love your neighbor as yourself.”
And what greater example of love do we have than the love of Christ? Christ is love born into the world, and his life is a blueprint for how we are to share that love with the world around us — his life showed us that sharing a meal with those we may not understand has the power to change hearts. He showed us that to give a voice to the voiceless takes courage and sometimes looks like standing against popular opinion; he showed us that love isn’t easy — it is hard and uncomfortable, and sometimes love requires great sacrifice. But when love is put into the world, love lives on well beyond ourselves. Just look how far the love of Christ has gone centuries later. We may not always get it right or perfect, but live on it does.
The motto my grandparents shared with us, “Love is eternal”, wasn’t just about the love they shared with one another, but about the love they shared beyond their walls. We are all called in this way — to be love, to receive love, to share love. The love we give isn’t stagnant, it is active. Once love is given, it ripples on in ways that we may never see.
I am reminded of how one writer describes it in 1 Corinthians — Love is patient and kind, not jealous or proud, not selfish or irritable, it doesn’t keep records of wrongs, but is happy with the truth... Love never fails. Love is eternal.
Create a small weekly habit where you intentionally set one ripple of love in motion — something simple but outward-facing. Invite someone unexpected to share a meal. Write a handwritten letter to someone who feels forgotten, donate time or resources to a local hunger effort, or use our free printable cards to write a letter to someone who feels forgotten.
Turtles don’t rush, and neither does deep love. Choose one day a month (or even one hour a week) to intentionally move slower and more attentively with people. Put your phone away during conversations, sit with someone who’s grieving, play a game of Table Talk with neighbors or loved ones. It’s small, almost invisible work, but it changes atmospheres.
For a printable version of today's reflection Click Here!
Blessing
God of Eternal love,
Thank you for the perfect example of love you gave us all those years ago. Give us the courage to live into that legacy so that ripples of love can wash over what needs healing within us and within our world.
Amen.
A little Table Talk for your table...
Where in your life is love asking you to grow?
Who in your life has embodied love in a way that shaped you? What did their love look like in practice?
How can you incorporate the idea that “Love is eternal” in your daily life?
Try taking it to the Kids Table...
Where might God be helping you grow in love?
Is there a place at school, home, or with friends where loving someone feels hard?
What is one small way you could practice love this week?
Meet This WEek’s Writer...
Kendall Grubb is the CEO and one of the Co-Founders of The Welcome Table. She, her husband, and their daughter are a military family who calls Nashville, TN home. Earning degrees in music and business administration from Belmont University, she jumps at any opportunity she gets to create something new and help bring it to life. From writing and performing music to leading TWT, she loves the power that song and story have to connect people from all walks of life!
To hear more from Kendall throughout the week, follow along on our Instagram!