Through love serve one another. - Galatians 5:31
Ah...love...so often equated to the flutter of emotions that rushed through our bodies when we first found ourselves attracted to the man we now call husband... Love that would sway us, cause us to daydream, and catch our breath... Love that would keep us going on very few hours of sleep having given those hours to long phone conversations with our beloved.
But alas, every bride finds herself, eventually, at a place where that kind of "love" fades. Of course, it was not love to begin with...sorry to burst any bubble you may have still had, but that rush was simply chemistry. Love...is something else altogether.
The Lord defines love as patient, kind, not jealous, does not brag, is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly, does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, rejoices with the truth, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things, and never failing. (1 Corinthians 13:4-8)
I don't know about you, but I know for sure that when I look at THAT definition of love, I find it difficult to turn to my husband, and with the same tenderness say, "I love you." I can't live up to THAT! I've discovered that marriage has shown me how IMpatient I am, how UNkind I am, how jealous I am, how arrogant I am, how unbecomingly I act, how much I seek my own, how easily provoked I can be, and can we stop for a minute and review the pages of injustices I have kept?... I don't bear all things, believe all things, hope all things, endure all things and all I come to is the discouragement of ABSOLUTE FAILURE!!
But let's not stop here, ladies. We're not hopeless and failure is not the end of our stories. Truly, I say to you, this challenge of encouraging our husbands is about seeking the source of all strength, all hope, all endurance, all belief and all VICTORY!! - JESUS CHRIST!!
I personally can find many things to praise my husband for in the area of serving our family. That may not be the case for you. But either way, I would encourage you to take this verse from Galatians and allow the Lord to show you how YOU can serve your husband...how YOU can demonstrate the love given you by the Savior and lavish on him.
Remember...We are completely depraved. There is nothing good in us apart from Jesus and yet He lavished His love on us through the cross of Calvary. He endured the most wretched of circumstances to extend His love for us. Now, while none of us are Jesus, we ALL (who have Him as Lord and Savior) are His creation and have been given everything we need to accomplish the good works that He set for us to do before He even laid the foundations of the earth. (Eph 2:10, Phil 1:6, Phil 2:13) Your husband may not deserve a back rub today. Your husband may not deserve an extra special dinner. You may desperately want his help with the house today even though it would be his only day to watch the game he taped last weekend. But what are you going to do to reflect the sacrificial, agape love of Jesus Christ today? What kind of selflessness are you going to show? What undeserved kindness? How much of that record of wrongs are you willing to expunge?
It's not impossible ladies - ALL things are possible with Christ who strengthens us! But now is the time to die to your SELF and live for Christ!! And ultimately it is the Lord we are serving when we serve our earthly husbands, worthy or not. So let's set out today with a heart of love that reveals itself through godly service! May you be blessed and may our Lord reap all the glory!!
0 comments:
Post a Comment