Relationships

Storybook Marriage

One of my favorite memories of my mom and dad came after I had moved into a new apartment. My folks had driven up to help me hang pictures – a job that’s hard to do by myself. It turned out however, that I wasn’t really needed for the task because my parents had long perfected the art of working together. As I watched them I was mesmerized as my mom handed my dad the tools he needed without him even asking. I was touched by my dad’s trust in my mom to know what was needed. They worked symbiotically together, each applauding and relying on the other one’s strengths to accomplish the task at hand.

It was a simple, yet accurate reflection of how my parent’s marriage functioned each and every day. They relied on each other, encouraged each other, and worked together to make things more beautiful than they otherwise would have been. This was who they were and this particular story is dear to me because it so accurately demonstrate the greater story of their marriage.

Since my dad’s passing I’ve had the opportunity to tell that greater story a lot.  People are fascinated by it. Perhaps that’s because a good marriage is an increasingly rare thing. Perhaps because it’s even more rare for children to not only recognize that their parents’ marriage was great, but to want to emulate it.

Their story always has three parts:

1) They loved Christ and were committed to serving Him.

2) Because of their love for Christ, they were committed to each other and reflecting His love in their marriage.

3) They raised up their children in the way they should go according to Biblical standards.

These three things are the touchstones of my parents’ lives. It’s what they invested their time in, what they thought about and what they worked towards. My parents would be the first to admit that they didn’t do this perfectly, but from someone who had a front-row seat to their marriage, I could tell you that more often than not, they did them exceptionally well.

And it’s because their commitment to each other and to their kids was grounded in their commitment to love and serve Christ that they can have confidence that not only will they see each other again, but when they do so, they will hear “Well done, my faithful servants.” And that’s the best type of happy-ever after ending that there is.

Continue Reading

Hope Relationships

Proportional Love

Colossians 1:4-5 – “…since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel…”

When Christians are told that we are to love our neighbor, most people instinctively realize that this is a hard command to follow. As Jesus made clear, it’s easier if we like the person, but His standard isn’t that we show love just to those who are lovely; He commands us to love those who are enemies – those whose goal it is to destroy us (Luke 6:27-26). Just as the Good Samaritan cared for someone who would have likely ridiculed and ostracized him if only he had been conscious enough to do so, so we are to intentionally show love, even to those who aren’t loving towards us.

The call to love other Christians is perhaps even more pronounced in the Bible. In John 13:35 Jesus says that it’s through our love towards one another that Jesus will know that we are His disciples. Our love for our brothers and sisters in Christ becomes the visual testament to our commitment to Christ. How we treat those in our spiritual family reflects how we love our Father. Yet, despite the bond we share, this can be difficult to do.

Unless our perspective is on heaven. As the above passage from Colossae shows it is because of the hope that the Colossae church had in their eternal home that they loved one another. They realized that it wasn’t the petty squabbles of this Earth that mattered, but what mattered was what was important for eternity. Their focus wasn’t on this life, but the next, and therefore they were free to overlook offenses, provide for needs, and love sacrificially. They knew that these were the things that had heavenly importance. They knew that they would matter in eternity.

And I can’t help but think there’s a proportional response here.. Most of the time when people think of proportional responses, they think of exacting retribution to the same degree that another harmed us. Instead, for the Christian, our response is in direct proportion to the degree which our eyes are Heaven-focused. We will love others to the degree which we are focused on eternity. The more we hope in heaven, the more actively we demonstrate love

So let’s get our focused Heaven-ward. And as we do so, may we, like the church in Colossae, be known for our love.

 


Continue Reading