“Lucky you!” That was the comment left on my Facebook wall when my status read “True love is the excited anticipation of seeing my Friday night date.... even though I've had the same one every week for over 20 years!”

Is there really such a thing as being “lucky in love”? It’s a lovely notion although I don’t think it’s very realistic.

Take two young people who hardly know each other, much less who they will become, marry them off in a celebration of passion, lust and adoring love and then fast forward 20 years.

Circumstances are bound to be different, emotions have probably matured in one way or another and eyes are certainly likely to have been opened.

If I was to tell you that despite these things happening it is still possible to use words like passion, lust and love in conjunction with the same relationship would you, or could you, even contemplate putting this down to sheer luck?

Every day of my marriage we have honoured our vows. We have loved each other even when we didn’t like each other… and this has resulted in us loving each other even more.

And what is love? Regardless of Christian belief it’s hard to find a better explanation than1 Corinthians 13:4–8

This famous quote wisely teaches: "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails".

How would our divorce rate look if people truly measured their actions and reactions towards their partner to this portion of scripture?

It doesn’t mention that love is just plain lucky!

In a relationship between two reasonable and caring individuals it shouldn’t be so hard to make the commitment to each other every day.

I have loved a poem that says;

• Love is a fire that burns in the heart,
• But love is a fire that two must start.
• Love is a fire that burns to the end,
• But love is a fire that two must tend

(Sorry I don’t know the author).

We must all take the actions to do the things that keep the flame of love burning. Even if love is only a spark that remains on a charred heap of consumed lives there is a choice as to how it is protected and nourished or stomped on and doused.

It’s not luck. It’s good management. And love!