Tangible Love

Wives submit to your husbands as to the Lord. . .Husbands love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her. . . Ephesians 5:22, 25

I had an awful day. I came home, threw my stuff on the table and marched past my husband to my bedroom without saying a word. The night continued and the house was tense. I was irritable and let my children and husband know it when I was interrupted in things I was attempting to accomplish. However, whenever the telephone rang, I picked it up and answered politely. This happened several times as I rattled on in happy conversations with those outside my home. As I worked at the table, the phone rang again. I answered it and said "Hello" as a familiar voice spoke from the other end. It was my husband on the upstairs phone with a smile in his tone. "Since you are so friendly with people on the phone, I thought I would try this approach". I threw my head back and laughed heartily. My irritability melted and I realized my selfishness. I was taking my bad day out on the people I loved the most.

We have been given an incredible privilege to love people. My husband and I share with couples in premarital counseling that they have the opportunity to love the other with a love that mirrors Christ's to a hurting world. Each spouse has the wonderful challenge to love the other well so that when outsiders look at their marriage, they can see how much Jesus loves them personally. More recently I heard Pastor Andy Stanley remark that an individual is the vehicle of God's love to his/her spouse. We can be overwhelmed by that thought or we can be energized by it. That truth alone, if applied, can take our marriages to new heights. With the Holy Spirit's help, how can you show your spouse daily how much God loves him/her?

Thank you Lord that You love me unconditionally and unfailingly. Open my eyes every day to see tangible ways in which I can show those closest to me how much You love them. Amen.

Jocelyn Hamsher