“Reading again, from 1 Thess. 3 about love ‘increasing and abounding’ reminds me that quantity and quality of love is never static. If love can increase and abound, and it can, then it can decrease and diminish, and it does.
The memory of having loved is not love itself any more than a Stop sign is a stop. It’s just a sign, a mark, of something that once happened here.
Memories can be good things, but if a relationship is not on-going and nurtured, it dies leaving only memories in it’s wake. Memories can be good reminders, even encouragement to move ahead, but they are not love itself. They can also be tomb stones, ‘here lies, what (who) I once loved.’
As Paul prayed, I too pray, that your love will grow, and as that chapter further says, God himself will make you to increase and abound in love. This is not a ‘try harder’ and ‘work more’ thought. It’s a reminder that the author of love is always working to purify and stretch your heart and soul into a more perfect grasp of Him and what love truly is.”