8 Choices That Create A Love That Lasts

By Jill Briscoe, Howard Books, 2007

Not everything is within our 1. The choice to love

power to control. But, God.
thankfully, some of the most 2. The choice to love
important things are. when love runs out.
3. The choice to love
Beloved author Jill Briscoe those in your church
shares eight concrete choices family.
that are guaranteed to fill your 4. The choice to love
life with love – the kind of love those who drive you
that lasts. Based on the “love up the wall.
chapter” of the Bible, 1 5. The choice not to love
Corinthians 13, the choices things too much.
shared in these pages will give 6. The choice to love
you the power to love not only when you’re provoked.
7. The choice to love and
God and yourself but to infuse
trust again.
love into every relationship in
8. The choice to love God
your life.
up close and personal.
Choose love through these
You can choose a life of lasting
eight life-empowering choices:
love.

WHY YOU NEED THIS BOOK

CHOOSING TO LOVE GOD BACK
INSIDE CHOOSING TO LOVE WHEN LOVE RUNS OUT
THIS CHOOSING TO LOVE THE CHURCH (EVEN WHEN IT’S DIFFICULT)
CHOOSING TO LOVE THOSE WHO DRIVE US UP THE WALL
SUMMARY CHOOSING TO LOVE THINGS LESS
CHOOSING TO LOVE WHEN WE’RE PROVOKED
CHOOSING TO LOVE AND TRUST AGAIN
CHOOSING TO LOVE GOD UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL
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Why You Need this Book
This book will share eight choices you can
make to grow lasting love in your life.
CHOOSING TO LOVE GOD BACK
True love always gives hope when there
seems to be no more hope left. God gives
us His own love to love Him back when we
can’t do it on our own.
The place of new beginnings in the matter
of loving is the place in our home, hotel
room, church, or chapel where we kneel
and decide to receive His incredible gift of
everlasting love.
God’s style of love is love that is
unconditional. He does not say, “Fulfill the
conditions and I will love you” or, “I will love
ABOUT THIS BOOK
Author: Jill Briscoe
Publisher: Howard
Books, 2007
ISBN10: 1 58229 664 2
233 pages
8 Choices That Create A Love That Lasts by Jill Briscoe
you if you are pretty or if you’re good or if
you give an exceptional performance.” He
says, “I will love you” period!
God must master you so you can master
yourself. He must be obeyed gladly,
wholeheartedly, and willingly, whatever
He asks you to do. As He fills every part of
your life, you will find yourself capable of
doing things you have given up hope of
ever doing. Things like loving Him back,
and loving your friends and enemies
alike.
The heart is a “lonely hunter” until it finds
God.
CHOOSING TO LOVE WHEN LOVE
RUNS OUT
What aspect of love did you run out of?
What is love and what is it not? God’s love
never runs out. His love chases us down!
Love never fails to go on loving. It lasts
forever. Once He lives in your heart, love
never runs out because God never runs
out of love.
The choice is ours to allow God to fill our
hearts with His love. Even marriages can
be revitalized by the love of God.
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Marriage reveals that we are very
different people. It takes God to help us
handle – even appreciate – our
differences. It’s not easy to have a very
different person living in our lives, up
close and personal.
If you are in the autumn of a relationship,
take action! Don’t wait. Turn around and
run into the waiting arms of God. Do your
part in saying your “sorry” to Him, and
then say them to your spouse. Own your
part and remember that you are
responsible only for your responses and
reactions, not anyone else’s.
Agape doesn’t wait for the other person
to make the first move. Agape runs to
make amends. Don’t give up, for the best
is yet to come.
God would save us from winter – from the
frost, the cold and from the misery. He
has better things in mind. All of us know
about the miracle of resurrection in the
winter of your marriage. God is a God of
miracles.
CHOOSING TO LOVE THE CHURCH
(EVEN WHEN IT’S DIFFICULT)
Love respects others it doesn’t always agree
with and celebrates the differences. There is
8 Choices That Create A Love That Lasts by Jill Briscoe
such a thing as unity in diversity that can last.
Anyway, Jesus commanded us to love one
another, and He didn’t say, “Except those who go
to church!” Love is a decision.
Pride always has to take the credit for a job well
done, a victory achieved, a soul saved, and a
Christian helped. Pride always has to take the
credit and never takes the blame. If something
goes wrong, it is always someone else’s fault.
Pride would rather choke than say, “I’m sorry.”
Yet we can achieve so much more as long as we
don’t have to take the credit.
So how can we deal with our tendency toward
pride and arrogance? How can we learn to let
agape love rule our service and relationships in
the church?
• Spend lots of time in worship. Spend
time with God. See the Lord high and
lifted up, glorious and holy. If that
doesn’t cure your pride, nothing will!
• Listen to yourself, Look at yourself.
Listen to yourself talk, and then stop
talking when it’s all about you. Ask lots of
questions about other people. Stop
talking about your kids and ask about
theirs. If there are single people in the
group, remember that they have a family
too! Ask them to share their photos.
• Humble yourself. If we don’t humble
ourselves, then God will humble us! So
dare to invite God to keep you humble.
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CHOOSING TO LOVE THOSE WHO
DRIVE US UP THE WALL
Love that lasts is “grown-up love.” Paul says
children are selfish and love themselves first
and last. We are not to be children in the
matter of loving.
God’s love is grown-up love that doesn’t wait
for someone to love it first, but gives love
anyway, whether it’s reciprocated or whether
the ones loved drive them crazy.
It’s an unselfish love that won’t quit. - A love
that lasts. We choose to be either mature or
childish in loving.
Think often about God’s infinite kindness and
see what will happen to your gray
depression. Then, go and find someone to be
patient and kind too!
Is your love patient and kind? Remember, the
Holy Spirit dwells in your hearts to be all the
things you are not. Draw on this resource. It’s
a daily choice. Love that works, works on
love. There is no other way.
CHOOSING TO LOVE THINGS
LESS
Contentment is a learned art. Things will
always come short of filling your
expectations. When you learn how to be
content with “such things as you have”, the
craving for things you don’t have will stop.
8 Choices That Create A Love That Lasts by Jill Briscoe
It’s a choice. This is a tranquility of the soul
that’s lasting. Things can’t satisfy at the end of
the day - the heart still ends up a lonely hunter.
These sorts of choices begin when you are
small.
You will know that you are learning
contentment in your relationship with Christ
when:
1. You don’t want to get up and off your
knees when you pray. Think of the
experience you have had when meeting
with a wonderful friend - your best
friend.
You think of ways to prolong your time
together, don’t you? You aren’t looking
at the clock or are anxiously waiting for
your time together to end.
If you can begin to have times like this
with God and He becomes your friend,
you will not find yourself envying the
friendships others have.
2. You make a decision not to make Him
grieve. Our friendship with God will
depend on our doing our part to keep
short accounts with Him. As soon as
you know you have done something to
hurt Him, take time to make up.
3. You focus on the best things in life that
are free. Try counting your blessings.
When you focus on what’s best, you
won’t be coveting anything else.
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CHOOSING TO LOVE WHEN WE’RE
PROVOKED
Real love outlasts provocation. It even chooses
to love its enemies and turn them into friends.
We have provoked God, but He still chose to love
us. He is the God of the impossible - The
everlasting God.
Love loves again and again and again! That’s
how love behaves. But it will take some time, so,
give yourself time. If you have been hurt, you
need to:
• Spend time healing. Don’t rush into
another relationship too soon. Give
yourself a chance to heal.
Drink it in. Read, mark, and inwardly
digest it. Let the Word of God comfort
you as only the Word of God can. Just
give yourself time.
Love gets angry at the right things, allows God
to control its tongues, refuses to enjoy or pass
on confidential information, and can, in fact, be
trusted to keep its counsel and cover over the
ugly in people’s lives wherever possible.
Above all, love is not touchy, flying off the
handle at the slightest thing. Love lives a
peaceful life, being a reconciler and not a
warmonger. How are you doing? How are you
shaping up?

• Spend time “minding your mind.”

Concentrate on the things that have
been good and made you feel good.
• Spend time revisiting your theology.
Remind yourself of the promises of God.
God loves you. God forgives you. God
provides for you. God has plans for you.
God is with you. God will give you help.
God will empower you.
• Spend time being quiet. Love grows in
quiet places. Wait on the Lord. Refocus
your attention on your personal
relationship with Him rather than your
personal relationship with others.
• Spend time reading the Word of God,
not just snatching a few verses of
Scripture as you dash out the door into
the rest of your life. Bask in it. Soak in it.
CHOOSING TO LOVE AND TRUST
AGAIN
Perhaps this is one of the most challenging
choices of all: the choice to forgive the wounds
that others inflict on us or on those we love. Only
forgiveness heals the hurts we don’t deserve.
Forgiveness fuels love.
Lewis Smedes says, “When you can wish the
one who has misused you well, you will know
you have forgiven them.” That will give you
lasting peace of mind. That’s the work of love,
perhaps its hardest work.
Love always hopes, always perseveres. Love
never fails. Do you need to learn to love and
trust again? Look to God, who can give you the
love that you need as you go along the way. For
this you need Jesus. For this, you have Jesus.

8
Peaks
Choices
and That
Valleys
Create
By Spencer
A Love That
Johnson,
LastsM.D.
by Jill Briscoe 5 of 6
CHOOSING TO LOVE GOD UP CLOSE
AND PERSONAL
The Holy Spirit fuels our hearts with everlasting
love for everyone. The more we know God “up
close and personal” the deeper even our most
difficult relationships will be. This is a “daily”
choice and the one the devil fights most to
prevent. “The devil trembles when he sees the
weakest saint upon his knees!”

Let’s choose to cause the devil a whole lot

of trembling!

Because there is light forever, there will also be

life forever. Flowers will never wilt; leaves will
never turn brown. There will be no more death.
There will be no need for medicine because no
one will ever get sick. And there will be no more
pain. Oh, won’t that be a day to look forward to?
Life, eternal life, will take care of all these things!

So in the light of all of these, the most important

thing that should be totally absorbed in our lives
down here is the practice of real love. Why?
Because love lasts - Love will be the only thing
that matters in all eternity!

~///~

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