The whole world seems obsessed with love. The music industry, Hollywood, and thousands of years of literature have focused on the idea of loving and being loved. Someone said, “I once asked an old man: Which is more important—to love or to be loved? He replied: which is more important to a bird—the left wing or the right wing?”
And what if you were loved by the most important person in the universe? What if you were known completely, faults and all, and yet loved with an everlasting love? The kind that never fails, never ends, never holds a grudge against you? That’s the kind of love that Christ offers us, a love that cannot be offered by any other man or woman.
Marriage is a beautiful institution, and it should be honored as such. According to Ephesians 5, marriage is the earthly image of Christ and His church. Like a husband, Christ pursues His people, commits His life to us, and provides and cares for us. And like a loving wife, we receive his provision and love and praise Him for the way He tenderly cares for us.
But marriage is intended for this life only. In heaven, it will no longer exist. Jesus said, “At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage …” (Matthew 22:30). We will brothers and sisters in Christ, and daughters and sons of God.
As beautiful as falling in love in our human way is, the love we share with God is far deeper and it will last for eternity. Instead of indulging in the obsession of the world to experience the love of a man or woman, let us fall head over heels in love with our Lord. As Solomon wrote of his bride, “I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine.”
Most people will spend the first part of their adult lives looking for a spouse, and then they will spend the rest of their lives making those relationships work out or looking for ways out into another relationship. Jesus said, “You shall love the Lord our God with all your heart and with all our soul and with all your mind.” When we obsess over our love of God instead of the ideals of a Hollywood romance, then life is put into perspective—a fallen world with fallen man—and all other relationships fall into place.
Starter for further Bible Study:
“No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us” (1 John 4:12)
Action points to make this principle a part of your life:
- Think of your spouse as God’s gift to you. How does that change the way you think about your spouse?
- Take 10 minutes today to pray. Go somewhere privately and speak to God. Start with confession, and then move into praise.
- Start praying with your spouse every night before bed.