A couple of things I’ve learned about counseling are—1) you can’t help someone unless they want to be helped and 2) usually once someone is ready for help, they already know what needs to be done and just need to get out there and do it. Sometimes people do get lost in the jumble of life and need some direction; sometimes they need a word of encouragement or a good kick in the pants, but for the most part, they don’t need hours of counseling and therapy, they need to get out there and do best what they know they should have been doing all along. Honestly, so much just comes down to love. If you want a better marriage, a better parent/child relationship, a better relationship with coworkers or whoever, loving these people will go so far.

 Love is:

Patient

Kind

Love Doesn’t:

Envy

Boast

Love is not:

Arrogant

Rude

Insistent on its own way

Irritable

Resentful

And does not rejoice at wrong doing but rejoices at the truth

Love:

Bears all

Believes all

Hopes all

Endures all

Love never ends.

So before you give up on a marriage, child, coworker, friend, whoever—try loving them in real actions (not just in thought or word, but in action). It’s hard to fight with someone who is patient, kind, humble, polite, giving, and puts up with you no matter what. It’s nearly impossible to get along with someone who’s impatient, unkind, envious, boastful, arrogant, rude, selfish, irritable, resentful, and doesn’t believe in you. So think about your actions or inactions. What are you telling the people around you by the way you behave around them? Can this problem be solved if you were a little more loving? Probably. It’s worth a try at least, right?

See 1 Corinthians 13