Because We Are Loved

How can we even love at all? It is only because Christ first loved us, that we can love others. We don’t even understand love, our human brains just don’t get it. Sure we understand what it feels like to have very strong emotions but without God’s perfect love for us, would we understand what true love is all about? But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8. God loved us at our worst, in our ugliest moments when nobody else could find us lovable. God sacrificed his Son for us because he loved us. What if we took just a fraction of that love and applied it to our spouse? Sacrificial love is the kind of love you need when your spouse is being unlovable. That is the only way to love him the way that Christ loved us. To love like Christ means to sacrifice our needs, desires, hopes, and dreams for our spouse’s good. What would you give up for your spouse? Jesus gave up his life for us. 

There are times when our spouse can feel like our biggest enemy rather than our best friend. This is because we love in human terms, we don’t love unconditionally the way that God loves us. How hard is it for us to show warmth and affection to our spouse when they have done something to hurt us? Maybe we should try to extend grace and acceptance to our spouses. To love someone fully, we must accept their shortcomings and imperfections. Think about all the shortcomings you have. How would it feel if your spouse never extended grace to you when you needed it the most? Extending grace and acceptance to your spouse doesn’t mean you accept their sin and don’t demand change, but it does mean that we understand that we are all flawed human beings and that change is only possible with the help of our Lord. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Ephesians 4:2. How do we bear with each other? How long does our bearing last? I challenge all of you, and myself included, to be an Ephesians 4:2 wife. I can only imagine how much better my marriage would be if I can be the kind of wife that Christ has called me to be.