the only thing i can guarantee, between the two of us, is this:

i will hurt you.

that's it. relationships, romantic or otherwise, are represented by
the exact same mathmatical formula. it looks like this:

1 fallen person + 1 fallen person = 2 fallen people

we don't improve ourselves in pairs or in groups. we are,
unfortunately and irrevocably, imperfect. thats the odd irony of the
aforementioned guarantee. guarantees assume perfection. to "guarantee"
something is to essentially bet that it will work perfectly, at least
for a certain amount of time.

strange, then, that the one guarantee about relationships is that they
won't work perfectly at all. we will all, at one time or another, act
perfectly wrong.

a corollary of this argument is as follows: love is a choice. if you
base your ability to love someone on their ability to please you or
perform their "relational duties" correctly, you're setting yourself
up for disappointment. there is only one personal being in the entire
universe that is worthy to be loved for His relational perfection. He
is worth being loved for who He is. you know what He is?

He is guaranteed.

so stop trying to find it somewhere else. you won't find it in a
pastor, or a teacher, or a discipler, or a leader, or a friend, or a
date, or a spouse, or a drinking buddy, or anything that involves
another person. pastors fall and teachers lie and disciplers mislead
and leaders crumble and friends betray and dates break up and spouses
hate and drinking buddies...well, drink.

your only hope for something sure is That which does not change.

so act like it.