All in Marriage
A married man says he loves his wife, and I hope that is true, but how do we gauge whether we are honestly loving her as we should? The only true measure is to compare our love for her against the love of Jesus for His bride... the Church. Comparing ourselves against other men is to make a flawed comparison; only when we go to scripture and use Jesus as our model are we able to truthfully understand the love we should have.
Do you obey the commandments of Jesus? If your answer is yes, and you are working your way through life doing all you can towards this end yet you have not felt Jesus to be alive in your life, then I need to ask you one more question... do you obey Him out of love?
Do we abide in Jesus Christ? This is an incredibly powerful question, and our answer to it determines much. This is the condition that is placed on one of the most sought after promises in the Bible... answered prayer, and it is also linked to other promises such as the love of God, and joy. So how do you approach Jesus? Is Christ abiding in you, or just a visitor?
Do you know Jesus? Have you developed a relationship with God? Are you confident in your faith and feel like you have a handle on it? If you answered yes to the first two questions, that is exciting and wonderful. If you answered yes to the third then you are in for some big surprises as you read on.
How intimate are you with Jesus? Is your relationship close enough, and deep enough, that you don’t keep secrets, and that you can do the grossest of natural things in front of Him without embarrassment? Can you sit under a tree for hours and tell Him your wildest dreams or confide in Him your darkest thoughts? I encourage you to not have a handshake relationship with Jesus... become more than acquaintancesin your faith and in Him.
Today I celebrate my wife's birthday. I have lived with her longer than any other human being on earth, and in that time I have loved her without reservation. My love for her forms one of the foundation stones of my life, and like my love for Jesus Christ, it rests firmly upon God himself.