Love

 

Hollywood says that you should find your soulmate and then you fall in love.  There are websites that ask twenty compatibility questions, and based on your answers, connect you with ten potential matches.  But the Bible teaches a totally different plan.  When you marry, you make a commitment.  You are commanded in Ephesians 5 to love your wife … for life.  Love isn’t an ushy-gushy feeling; love is a commitment.  We are to love our wife as Christ loved us.  And Jesus Christ loved us while we were sinners - while we were unlovely.  We don’t fall in love; we grow in love.  Hollywood says that when your love dies, it is the other one’s fault.  They didn’t meet your needs.  You are justified to ditch the old one and find a new soulmate.  But God commands us to love, honor, and cherish till death do us part.  For better or for worse.  Love is not a noun; it is not a thing that we have.  Love is a verb; it is a thing that we do.  We must work on our love and nurture it.  True love grows because of the time that we put into it to make it thrive.  Love is meeting the other person’s needs.  Love is growing old together. Which brings me to my second point: today is my anniversary.  And don’t congratulate me on 52 years of marriage, congratulate my dear wife for putting up with me for 52 years!  Hey, love your wife, today and every day!