There’s a connection between loving someone (or something), and perseverance. Love is more than merely a feeling or an emotion—it’s a choice to seek the welfare of the other. And the depth of this choice is tested most clearly when it encounters difficult times. Will it stay tough and continue to seek good for the other? Or will the resolve melt away when things grow hard? Because love’s response in the face of ongoing adversity is a prime indicator of how authentic it really is.