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 It
is hard to love an alcoholic. Wives have tried, and cried! The
heart longs for tender- ness, and receives a cursing rebuke.
Efforts to please go unnoticed; his special dish which was
prepared with loving care is cold and uneaten, as he tarries at
the bar. Or, a husband finds the mother of his children in a
drunken stupor, while the baby sobs pitifully.
The
alcoholic sobers, and weeps bitter tears of remorse. He is
forgiven, and everyone pledges a new start — and a few hours
later we discover that there were cold checks out even while we
were seeking to work off the last indebtedness. The savings
released to pay those checks is spent on more alcohol instead
— and, if we raise our voice in exasperation, we are told that
“this eternal nagging” drives him to drink.
There
is no love like mother’s love — and I have known mothers to
shake with emotion as they pondered the unanswered problem. One
mother acknowledged that her only peace was the uneasy rest she
experienced while her son was in prison. “There, he has food,
and a bed,” she said, “and I know where he is.” Still, she
sought his release —
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and was hurt again.
The
wife pretends not to hear the neighbors talk about her husband’s
unfaithfulness, and the husband tries to see his youthful bride
in place of the slothful old sot who sprawls on the divan while
he straightens the house. Until human endurance reaches its
limit! Until love is smothered, and its embers glow only in
fitful memories that come to haunt dreams. Yes, it is hard to
love an alcoholic!
But
God loves alcoholics! While they were yet drinking, He gave His
Son to die for them. (Rom. 5:6-10) God does not love their ways,
but he does love them, and His unselfish love has prompted many
an alcoholic to change his ways and obey the Lord so that his
sins may be forgiven. (Acts 2:38)
I’m
glad God loves alcoholics — and the rest of us sinners who get
“hung up” on pride, fleshly appetite, money, etc., until we
act toward God like the alcoholic toward his family. Do you dare
make the comparison??
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