Make Your Love Last

We live in an exciting time in history, we get to enjoy airplane rides that can take us all around the world, the internet, social media etc. Our modern inventions make life fun and exciting, but when it comes to love our modern society doesn't know what to do.


About 50% of all first marriages end in divorce and 67% of second marriages end in divorce. Why is it so difficult for us to make love last? One reason is that we tend to look to romantic relationships as something that should serve us, rather than as a calling to serve someone else. It's impossible to be very selfish and still have a healthy and florishing marriage. Real love isn't self-serving. When two people get married they are committing to serve each other for the rest of their lives. Anyone who has worked in the service industry knows that serving others isn't always fun or easy. It takes commitment, grit and sacrifice to be able to serve someone else.


Imagine how many kids would be in orphanages in Canada if every parent who got tired of serving his/her child decided to end the commitment to the child. Parenting is a lifelong commitment to serve another human-being, the same is true for marriage. Unfortunately we are partly raised by Hollywood movies that teach us that marriage will give us ultimate happiness in life. It won't. Marriage is a beautiful thing but just as with parenting a good marriage requires commitment, work and self-sacrifice. It's funny how the Hollywood movies never mention any of these things isn't it?

The Gift of Great Service

We are all gifted in different areas. No matter what your gift is I encourage you to put it to use, it will change lives. No human is more important than another, together we change the world. God calls each one of us to be servants, to serve others in love just as Jesus did. It's a great gift to others to serve them with excellence. Putting your gifts to use is practicing generosity.


On Saturday morning I woke up with pain in my neck. I have been sleeping on the same pillow for the last five years and on Saturday my neck was letting me know that I needed to buy a new pillow NOW! I was annoyed that I had to squeeze in a visit to Sleep Country on my Saturday morning since I had a birthday party to organize. Once I arrived at the store my mood completely changed, I was met by an older man who served me with excellence and gave me all the advice I needed to pick the perfect new pillow for my aching neck. We laughed and joked and afterwards I returned home with a new luxurious pillow and a feeling of gratitude for the great service I had received. This morning I didn't really want to get out of bed because my new pillow is super comfortable and sleeping on it feels like a taste of heaven to me. My point is this: whatever you do, do it with excellence! No matter what your gifting is and no matter what job you have, decide to serve people with excellence.


When we commit to giving our best to other people we change people's lives. We love our neighbor when we commit to serving others with excellence, no matter if our client is wealthy or poor. Every time the barista serves me an excellent latte at the coffee shop he/she makes my day. Every time the nurse at the hospital gives me excellent care she makes a huge difference to my week. Every time a stranger gives me a compliment in the street it puts a smile on my face and reminds me of how kind and awesome Canadians are.


Words can not describe how big the difference is between when somebody treats you as an object versus giving you their best effort. I've had doctor's visits that have made me cry because the doctor clearly didn't care about my situation and only saw me as a case number. I've had other doctor's visits that have helped me tremendously, not only because I was given great medical advice but also because I was treated like a human-being, not as an object or case. Whatever you do, do it with excellence and you will change many people's lives in the process. As you change people's lives you also change the world in a positive direction at the same time.