STOP AND THINK – Love and magic have a great deal in common. They enrich the soul, delight the heart. And they both take practice. (Nora Roberts, American bestselling novelist)

Everyone realizes that a good magician has to study, practice, and work hard to perform his sleight of hand tricks. We don’t often think of love that way, though. We view it as a romantic sentiment that comes over us in the presence of someone attractive and responsive. But lasting love requires more than emotion; it takes commitment and determined effort.

Love is patient, love is kind. … It is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. … It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres (1 Corinthians 13:4, 5, 7).