[Love] keeps no record of wrongs.
—1 Corinthians 13:5
At the rehearsal dinner the night before the wedding, the father of the groom gave advice that would have made Dear Abby proud.
He told about a football coach who kept the score on the lighted scoreboard all week when his team lost, to remind his players of their failure. “That may be good football strategy, but it’s terrible strategy in marriage,” he told the soon-to-be-married couple. “When your spouse says or does something that upsets you, don’t keep it alive; turn off the scoreboard,” he advised.
That dad was spot on. Scoreboarding fails the most elementary definition of love. “Love is patient, love is kind. . . . It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs” (1 Cor 13:4, 5).
Build up, don’t beat up.