Each December hubby’s boss sends him the most unusual, unique Christmas gifts. A box will arrive at our front door … and lo and behold, it’s a pecan pie all the way from Texas.
Or … a box arrives … and it’s fresh macarons.
Or … it’s an insulated frozen cooler, containing Whiskey Cake gelato.
This year a box arrived on our front porch … and lo and behold, it was fried chicken!
Though … it wasn’t fried chicken.
It was “Not Fried Chicken Ice Cream.” What!???
What on earth is “Not Fried Chicken Ice Cream”??
“Not Fried Chicken Ice Cream” is a frozen dessert that looks exactly like fried chicken. Each “drumstick” has a long chocolate cookie stick as the “bone” in the center. (the same type of long chocolate cookie stick which comes in the little round metal tins) Around this “bone” vanilla ice cream is shaped and formed to look like a “drumstick.” This “drumstick”-shaped ice cream is then dipped into a glaze of White Chocolate for a thin coating (giving a little crunch). The deception is completed by a crispy Corn Flake exterior.
The “Not Fried Chicken Ice Cream” comes in a traditional fried chicken bucket … albeit packed in a cooler with dry ice. (because it’s ice cream! … not fried chicken)
Looks pretty real doesn’t it!
Fried chicken … that is fake!
Did you know there is such a thing as love that is fake?
“Many a man claims to have unfailing love, but a faithful man who can find?” – Proverbs 20:6
In my own personal life, there are people who claim verbosely to have “unfailing love” for me. I’m sure you probably have people in your own life who likewise claim verbosely to have “unfailing love” for you too.
Several years ago, I decided to test these people to see if their “unfailing love” was actually genuine … or fake.
For years I had doubted the authenticity of their love, due to the fact that their life completely contradicted their claims of “unfailing love.” I decided to officially put their love to the test.
I decided to stop reaching out to them … for a time.
It was an intentional, deliberate test.
As soon as I stopped reaching out to them immediately the relationship got “chilly.” A month went by with no contact whatsoever between us. Total silence. No texts … either way between us. No phone calls. No emails. Nothing.
A month stretched into two months … which then stretched into three months … which then stretched into four months. Silence.
The relationship was “icy.” You could cut the tension with a knife!
I knew full well they blamed me for the breakdown in the relationship. I knew full well they thought I was giving them a “cold shoulder.” And to be fair, I did intentionally stop reaching out to them. Because I was testing them. Because love is a two-way street. Because love also gives … love doesn’t just take.
Did they love me enough to actually put forth some effort to reach out to me??
Did they love me enough to try??
Four months stretched into five … which then stretched into six … which then stretched into seven …
No communication. No contact. Nothing.
Silence.
Every day I thought about them! Every day I prayed for them! And just about every day I told hubby: “If they will just reach out to me, I will 100% meet them at whatever point they want to have a relationship with me.”
But alas … I wasn’t worth the effort.
I wasn’t worth trying for.
The silence prevailed for almost an entire full year! This year-long test proved unequivocally (to myself) that their love for me was not genuine. Their love was fake. Just like this “fried chicken” …
I’m sure in their minds they believe that they really truly love me. Of course, its fried chicken … just look at it! It’s beautiful fried chicken. It’s perfect fried chicken.
But it’s not real. It’s fake.
You know it’s fake by touching it. You know its fake by picking it up. You know it’s fake by getting close to it. It’s cold. In fact, it’s freezing.
Love that is fake is “cold.”
Love that is fake is “freezing.”
Love that is fake might look “perfect” from a distance. But it’s not real.
After the year-long test, I re-established communication once again. I began texting once again. I began reaching out and pouring out love once again. And thus the relationship has hobbled along, 100% reliant on me to always be the one reaching out in love.
I am firmly convinced that if I had not re-established the relationship, there would still be ice-cold silence to this day.
“Many a man claims to have unfailing love, but a faithful man who can find?” – Proverbs 20:6
1 Corinthians 13 is the litmus test for whether or not love is genuine … or fake.
Love that is fake is self-seeking. Although there are verbose claims of “unfailing love” the love only lasts as long as there is something personally to be gained.
Unscrupulous boyfriends claim to have “unfailing love” … as long as they get what they want. When they don’t get what they want the “love” ends. It was never real love to start with. It was love that was fake.
How about the womanly power of withholding love in order to get what is wanted? Or using emotions as a weapon to get what is wanted. This is not love. This is love which is fake.
“If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.” – 1 Corinthians 13:1
Love is patient.
Love is kind.
Love does not envy.
Love does not boast or brag.
Love is not proud.
Love is not rude.
Love is not self-seeking.
Love is not easily angered.
Love keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil.
Love rejoices with the truth.
Love always protects.
Love always trusts.
Love always hopes.
Love always perseveres.
Love never fails.
Love that is real and genuine will pass the test. Love that is fake will fail the test.
Love never fails.
