The other day, as I was asking my husband to accompany me somewhere he didn’t want to go, I reminded him that I didn’t often ask him to do so. It wasn’t my finest moment as wife as I am not a fan of the guilt-trip express. Later I realized that while my statement was true, it’s validity had very little to do with my accommodating disposition. Instead, it had to do with the fact that my husband rarely puts me in a position where I have to ask him to set aside his comfort in order to increase mine. He’s so intent on caring for me and showing me Christ’s love, that more often than not, he’s already planned to do the thing that would make me happy. I don’t have to ask, because he’s already answered the question.
It’s an increasingly rare characteristic in today’s world, yet it’s the way that Christians are called to live. While society may want to think that marriage is primarily about the satisfaction and happiness it brings to us, the Bible tells us that marriage is primarily about how we reflect Christ. When pundits suggest that divorcing your spouse is permissible if their diseased mind no longer recognizes their loved ones, it’s important to remember that, as Dr. Russell Moore said on Twitter, “[This is] a cruel repudiation of Christianity itself. At the arrest of Christ, his Bride, the church, forgot who she was, and denied who he was. He didn’t divorce her.” In other words, just as Christ demonstrated that His life was about bringing glory to God through loving us, so our marriage should be about bringing Him glory through loving our spouse. In sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer, whether we “feel like it” or not, we should be showing them love.
And they should never have to question the love that we have for them. The question, should already be answered.
Now it’s your turn – How has someone shown you love even when it cost them time or convenience?
