The Love Dare

Some of you may have heard of the book The Love Dare, which comes from the movie Fireproof about marriage. I wrote a blog on this awhile back, but only today did I finally pick up the book and start skimming through it. I was originally perusing it for a friend who is struggling through a marriage, but as I started reading it, I realized that the advice it gives is great for anyone who deals with people on a daily basis (which is everyone, of course, except for hermits and gamers who live in their mother's basements).

In light of Valentine's Day, I am going to embark on this little Love Dare journey with the people around me. If you want to do the Love Dare with me, you can find it for free on this website. I encourage you to read through it because it has some powerful stuff about love in there that can apply to anyone, not just a significant other. If you feel that any relationships in your life are struggling, dare to do the dare with me. Maybe in 40 days, you'll see some positive results and those relationships will improve.

Since today is almost over, I will start the first dare tomorrow. Before we embark on this little journey, let's read through what the Bible says about love. We've all heard it at weddings, so say it together people:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

So for Day 1, we will focus on "Love is patient." I have adapted the dare for those of us who aren't married. Are ya ready? Here goes:

The first part of this dare is fairly simple. Although love is communicated in a number of ways, our words often reflect the condition of our heart. For the next day, resolve to demonstrate patience and to say nothing negative to anyone at all. If the temptation arises, choose not to say anything. It’s better to hold your tongue than to say something you’ll regret.

Give it all you got for Day 1, and we will commence for discussion tomorrow (or at least we'll just read what I have to say about my results). But I encourage any readers out there to also share their own experiences. It's always encouraging to see how the Love Dare works for other people and to see positive changes in other people's lives.

Comments

Lisa said…
The Love Dare is awesome! I have the book, and did it on Matt right when it and Fireproof first came out, and it worked wonders...did a lot of good for us, so I really believe in the power of it. Even though some days are hard to stick with it. :) Good luck, I'm sure you'll do fine, and you will enjoy it!
February 11, 2012 at 5:35 AM
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