Some folks fail to recognize love . . . because they have rarely walked a sacrificially loving path.
Some fail to recognize love . . . because they are so scared, mangled, depleted, hopeless . . . that they tend to rarely recognize love that is not wrapped in 12 layers of very soft foam rubber and rabbit fur.
Some folks fail to recognize love . . . because they don't recognize much of anything as remotely valid unless and until it CONFORMS to THEIR narrow, tidy tiny little boxed construction on 'reality.' Such folks also seem to major in !!!!CONTROL!!!! and !!!!TRADITION!!!! even if it's only their personal traditions or the traditions of the local club they have chosen to be a part of, for the moment.
Some folks fail to recognize love . . . because MAMMA or DADDY defined it differently and because MAMMA and/or DADDY were perfect examples of those who knew everything perfectly and implemented all truths flawlessly--everyone else is automatically wrong.
Some folks fail to recognize love . . . because their little IN-GROUP local club has !!!!TRADITIONALLY!!!! been very hostile to those not members of it--labeling all such as beyond the pale; ignorant; clueless; unloving; liars; idiots; heathen; reprobates; bound for hell . . . and the like--REGARDLESS OF THE FACTS!--particularly regardless of the facts from God's perspective.
Some folks fail to recognize Love . . . because they are so battered, bruised and obsessed with perfectionism that nothing and no one will ever measure up to their lofty standard--particularly them--so they can't allow anyone else to seem to measure up, either.
Some folks fail to recognize Love . . . because they are so bruised, angered, resentful, bitter and vengeful that it would take all the waves of the Pacific Ocean on all it's shores to wear down their granite hearts a sub-atomic particle's worth. And without being broken and contrite before God WITH NO PRECONDITIONS, RESERVATIONS OR WITHHOLDINGS . . . they will never have sufficient perspective from which to recognize Love.
Some folks fail to recognize Love . . . because they have decided that the "safest," easiest, most intellectually convenient construction on reality rules out all such hard to slice, dice, measure and manage things like EMOTIONS and the like. Better to be a sterile machine pretending that chaos plus time results in a fine cosmic watch that they can just pretend to be a well functioning gear in.
Others fail to recognize Love . . . because their local Pied Piper doesn't recognize Love and refuses to label Love as Love unless it came from his lips and graciousness. We could call this the Jim Jones blindness factor. But it happens in congregations of every flavor of Christian club around the world.
There are more reasons folks fail to recognize Love. But the major reasons is probably the refusal to walk intimately with Him who Is Love--fierce Love--Truth-In-Love . . . to be comforted by HIS LOVE AND to be disciplined by HIS LOVE.
Others of us too broken to refuse even the severities and fiercenesses of God's Love soak it up like ground the rain in Death Valley.
Amen.
Amen, Quix.