Love Never Fails

I would like to introduce a principle that we call: “Love Never Fails.” This principle has been tested for decades and has proven to be successful in our own son’s life. Our son, William, sustained a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) four years ago. As a result, he has been suffering with a “disease” called “Fear of Rejection.” Rejection causes a person to have a disease or dis-ease about him or herself. They fear rejection because they are not at ease with who they are. William was very confident in who he was prior to his accident, but unsure of himself after he suffered a TBI.

We knew the principle worked as we watched our son come back to life in response to our family’s love. We have rallied around him as a family throughout his recovery, each person doing their part. Just as a newborn needs complete family interaction for development, our son needed every family member to be a part of his recovery. He would respond to his grandma and grandpa in ways he did not respond to my husband and I. Each person stimulated him in a different way. The love that we were giving him was unconditional, but it could not touch the area of peer rejection. His fear of rejection was not with family members, it was in regards to his age group. So, the next level of recovery unfolded as new relationships were developed that set him free from the fear of rejection.

I watched as the freedom took place, and it was amazing! One day I asked him if he felt different. He said he felt so different after three new friends came into his life, that he would rate their impact as high as that of his favorite therapist who taught him to walk again.

We have watched the power of love, God’s kind of love, and I believe it can have a dramatic affect on any person, regardless of their condition. Everyone, TBI or not, needs to know somebody cares about them. This is a biblical principle found in 1 Corinthians 13:8, “Love never fails.” If God says, “Love never fails”, then we can count on it. God is love, and when you plug into Him, the light will come on. This powerful principle will work in any situation, age bracket, or gender because of the power of God that is behind it. The results may vary, but the outcome is always positive. Our son, William, is a success story and a perfect example of an incredible change that can take place in just a few short weeks.

It takes unconditional love to heal the heart of someone who has felt the pain of rejection because they are different, or they have disabilities. The fear of rejection is a lingering effect and indicates that the pain from the very first time rejection occurred is still felt. Fear of rejection is one of the greatest fears a TBI survivor struggles with. Unconditional love is the only love that will break through and set them free of this paralyzing fear.

William, now 19, sustained a TBI after our car was T-boned by an 18-wheeler in March of 2005. He returned back to school in the fall of that year with the expectation that his school friends would be excited to see him, and would celebrate the accomplishment that he could walk back into class again. After all, a Semi truck traveling 65 miles per hour hit him and, thanks to God, he lived! However, instead of celebrating, they stared, mocked, laughed, and ridiculed him. Some of his previous friends tripped him just to laugh when he fell, mocked him when he could not talk normally, and worst of all, they would wheel out of the school parking lot on Friday afternoons heading for a get-together that he was not invited to.

In the animal kingdom, a chicken that is weak and disabled will be pecked to death by the healthy chickens. This is what I watched happen as William was picked and pecked on until he was emotionally at the point of death. This once popular sophomore did not have a single friend now. No one would return his phone calls. Desperate for a friend, he would look through his phone list for someone to talk to. One after the other, his pre -TBI friends would say, “Hey, I gotta go, I’ll call you later,” but never call back. I would watch as he looked at his phone waiting for a call that would never come.

Then came a gift from God, three real friends: Sara, Austin, and Molly. Sara could understand William’s pain because she had felt the same pain of rejection. Austin and Molly had both experienced rejection in different ways. One thing they had in common was a love and admiration for William.

Sara especially knew how it feels to be pecked at by those who you think will accept and love you for who you are. She needed someone to celebrate her life as much as William needed someone to celebrate his.

God sent these three into our life as an answer to prayer. Little did we know at the time what an impact they would make on the next phase of William’s recovery, freedom from the fear of rejection. They saw his weaknesses, but did not make fun of him. They heard him struggle for the right words, but did not get impatient. They just waited patiently until he got the words out. If he said, “I don’t know”, Sara was gifted with an ability to pull out of him what he was trying to say by simply replying, “Yes, Will, you do know.” She would listen to him struggle with second-guessing a decision, but did not make fun. She would simply encourage him to see that his first decision was the right one.

What we observed was incredible. The unconditional love and acceptance of these three friends set him free from rejection. After three or four weeks we saw a noticeable change in his voice tone, ability to interact in conversation, and a tremendous change in his confidence. I believe the interaction with these three friends on a daily basis activated and awakened an area of his brain that therapy could not touch. This freedom from rejection is available when you have real friends who know how to love and accept you with God’s love. When we allow God’s love to flow through us, it produces change in others, regardless of their condition.


Find a Real Friend:

1. A person who has unconditional acceptance

2. A person who you respect and does not intimidate you

3. A person who has unconditional love, regardless of differences

4. A person who can cheer you up and not drag you down

5. A person who is not needy; needing attention for themselves

6. A person who is not selfish or self-centered

7. A person who gives without requiring something in return

8. A person who knows Jesus and has a personal relationship with Him


Thank you God, “That Your Love Never Fails…”(1 Corinthians 13:8).


Living Waters Ministry