Week 2 | Day 2 | Impossible Love

Command:

Honor Marriage

Read:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (NIV)

Reflect:

Today’s passage may be familiar to you. It is read at many weddings, ours included. It’s an appropriate declaration of the love between a man and wife and has often been interpreted as a reminder of what the idealistic marriage should look like.  

Twenty-two years down the road from our wedding day, I’d have to say my husband and I have not done the best job at being patient and kind towards each other. Having this passage read at our wedding actually set us up for unrealistic expectations within our marriage. That’s because we misinterpreted the love spoken in this passage to be referring to our love, but in fact the love that is described in this passage is referring to God himself. He is the love that is written and described in this passage. It’s the type of love that guides us in any relationship, especially our marriages.

Our human love alone is faulty, but the love that is brought when we invite God in the middle of our marriage is the kind of love that is not envious, self-seeking or easily angered. When God is in the center of our marriage his love “always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres” even between two imperfect people.

React:

Have you invited the type of love only God can give into your marriage?

Pray:

Father-God, only you can make this impossible love described in today’s passage be a part of our marriage. We welcome you to be in the center of it all.