In an era where relationships are increasingly disposable and disagreement is often labeled as harm, When Love Gets Hard offers a counter-cultural biblical response to the growing trend of cutting people off in the name of mental health and self-preservation. Author Carl Van Vliet challenges the modern therapeutic culture that has redefined love as unconditional affirmation and recast biblical correction as emotional manipulation.
While acknowledging that genuine toxic relationships and abuse require appropriate boundaries, Van Vliet argues that the wholesale categorization of difficult people as "toxic" has created a cancel culture of relationships where forgiveness is seen as naive, reconciliation as risky, and restoration as nearly impossible. This cultural shift has transformed what was once an important conversation about self-care into a philosophy that prioritizes emotional safety and personal autonomy above the biblical mandates of forgiveness, reconciliation, and redemptive love.
Throughout the book, Van Vliet weaves together biblical exposition, early church wisdom, and contemporary cultural analysis to present a compelling case for choosing the narrow path of reconciliation over the broad road of relational disposal. He doesn't minimize the reality of abuse or advocate for remaining in genuinely harmful situations, but rather calls readers to discern the difference between relationships that are difficult and those that are truly destructive.
When Love Gets Hard is written for anyone who has felt the pressure to label relationships as toxic, for those who have been canceled or cut off by others, and for Christian communities seeking to model a different way in an increasingly divided world. It challenges readers to examine whether their understanding of healthy relationships is shaped more by popular psychology than by biblical truth, and invites them to embrace the costly but transformative work of pursuing unity, practicing forgiveness, and choosing love even when it's hard.
This book is ultimately about the gospel itself-the story of a God who didn't cancel humanity in its sin but drew near in mercy, offering not just forgiveness but full restoration. In a culture that teaches us to walk away from difficulty, Van Vliet points us toward the One who walked toward us in our brokenness, and calls us to do the same for others.
When Love Gets Hard is both a theological treatise and a practical guide, offering hope for healing in a world that has largely given up on the possibility of restoration. It's a clarion call to live out the radical love of Christ in our most challenging relationships, believing that no one is beyond redemption and that the path of reconciliation, though narrow and thorny, leads to true freedom and deep joy.