Between reading about marriage and our church’s marriage seminar, love and its relation to marriage have grabbed my attention. Time to ramble:
- If you ask the average person about relationships and their purpose, I bet it wouldn’t take long to get to “self” as a topic.
- What I mean in the above statement is this: our culture’s concept of love short-sightedly asks how the individual can benefit.
- This picture opposes the biblical portrayal of marriage. Jesus Christ forms the center of marriage in the New Testament. Husbands and wives pledge their love to each other based on Christ.
- And Christ loved in sacrificial out-pouring, seeking the Father’s glory above His own.
- What if people got into relationships (dating, marriage, or otherwise) seeking God’s glory first and foremost? What if our relationships had self-sacrifice as our number one concern?
- What if, like Jesus, abandoning a relationship we committed to (marriage) NEVER came into the discussion?
- What if, as Jesus sees us, our ONLY way through sin and conflict was forgiveness?
- Is “love” taking on a bit of a different meaning? Does it transcend “the moment” or that perfect romance?
- Is it possible that love in many ways actually diminishes the striving for perfect emotional experience and instead leads us to perform acts of service out of sacrifice, even or especially when we don’t FEEL like it?
- These thoughts stir deep.
- I fully understand marriage takes great grace.
- I fully understand those coming out of broken marriage have need of great grace. We should display that!
- These thoughts come with no intention to condemn. These thoughts come with intention to encourage, to think through the truth that Christian marriage will make a great opportunity to witness as the years go by.
- Today: consider your definition of love. Today: act in love in your marriage, toward marriage, and in all ways in favor of marriage and family – whether you feel like it or not.