Don't Give Up

"Don't Give Up" by Sanctus Real (2006)

I heard you say you would love for a lifetime
Now you complain a lifetime just doesn't feel right for you
Another casualty of casual love
Another soul out of place, a heart that gave up

Why do we break the promises we make?
Are we living for ourselves?

I think (myself included, if I am being honest) everyone lives for themselves. I mean, look at how rude we have gotten – as a whole – in society. People don’t send thank you notes anymore, they face book. People don’t RSVP to something (from a party to a wedding) and show up anyway, even though you haven’t planned for them. People cancel plans at the last minute because something better came along. Oh.. and don’t get me started on people who are chronically late. I had a friend in Nashville who couldn’t be on time to save her life.. She was never less than 2 hours late to everything. I remember being downtown one night waiting on her, and calling every 15 minutes to see where she was. I finally left… it was 3 hours later. (I think I was kind being that generous while she wasted my time) I think forgetting details of something is just as bad.. write them down, people! Doesn’t everyone have a smart-phone of some sort today? All of them come loaded with calendars, so put information into those things and set an alarm on it. Then you don’t forget where you are supposed to be. And please, don’t over-commit, “just in case.” That is just as annoying. (ALRIGHT, alright..I’m off the soapbox.)

[Chorus:]
Don't give up on love and throw it all away
Don't give up on love and let it fall away
When did it become so easy to run from your pain
Don't give up on love and throw it all away

I heard you say you can't change a stubborn heart
I can relate 'cause that's how I feel when I talk with you

Can’t change a stubborn heart, huh? Since I have been writing this blog, people of all ages and stages in life have asked my thoughts on dating. I tell them there has to be a set of rules that are adhered to by both people involved in the relationship. If there is even the slightest unbalance, then the relationship will crumble. I’m talking about specific things that are important to both partners: sex before marriage, alcohol/drug consumption, children, religious background, and political views and so on. Not that everything has to be perfect,, BUT.. if I meet a guy who doesn’t want children, but tells me he does (you know, cause of the child I already have) and we fall in love and get married – then what? He ignores my son? Treats him badly? That is a complete deal-breaker for me. I can handle someone having different political views as long as he doesn’t put mine down or belittle my opinions. That is just childish.

Why should it take losing everything
to realize it might be time to change?

Sometimes we have to lose it all to realize the problem really might be within ourselves.

[Chorus:]

Your restless heart won't win 'cause you take but you don't give
And you'll keep moving on until you learn what love is

I see too many people who live like this. You see it in the Hollywood tabloids all the time. Brad Paisley even sings about it. I know people who walk away from a marriage because they refuse to give in, and some people just are not capable of giving of themselves.

Don't give up on love and throw it all away
Don't give up on love and let it fall away
Don't give up on love

God doesn’t want us to give up on love because we have been hurt, abandoned, abused or whatever has happened in the past. Yes, some things need recovery time, but that doesn’t mean you view every member of the opposite sex as evil. Nothing irritates me more than being lumped in with women who are bad to their men. Not all women are bad! The men who view all women as evil and vile are just as immature as the women who do the same to men. Not every person is bad. Yes, there are many bad apples out there, but not all women/men are bad because of one (or more) experience(s) with a bad one.

My point is, don’t give up. There is most likely someone out there for you, unless God has called you to be single. No matter what He wants from you in your life, at this point in time, if you are single, then that is where you are supposed to be. It doesn’t matter what your aunt’s cousin’s brother’s sister-in-law’s mom said about you finding a spouse and settling down with the white picket fence and 2.5 kids.

Where you are currently is okay. It’s okay with God and it should be okay with you. If it isn’t, then pray about it and see where God is taking you.



He hem…. I want to interrupt this song for a moment and discuss what we see all around us these days. Marriage and divorce, both out of convenience or misery, depending on how you look at it. This is not how God intended marriage to be. Marriage born out of lust then shattered when one or both partners find another object to lust after, then they divorce. OR someone gets bored. Or one of the partners decides they don’t want to be a parent anymore. There are so many reasons for divorce these days… what exactly are “irreconcilable differences” anyway?