This article is one that I subscribe to from Crosswalk.com - Encouragement for Today. Wow! I am SO guilty of placing these 'love expectations' onto my husband. It's SO NOT FAIR to him! He's never going to be exactly what I need when I need it - ALL the time. Dustin, I'm SO SORRY!! I caught a glimpse of this truth a while back, but it didn't stick as much as it needed to. I pray that the LORD will take hold of my heart. I need to do my part and remind myself of this truth EVERY day - saying it OUT LOUD - proclaiming it, 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. As Lysa sheds light onto this scripture passage...a perspective I had never even contemplated, that this passage is speaking of CHRIST'S LOVE for US! I am able to grow deeper in love with my Bridegroom, and release the unfair expectations on my husband. Now, of course that doesn't give the Hubby a free pass, but it allows me to get out of the way of what Christ is trying to grow in Dustin. Wives, we can be a stumbling block (well, even a mountain) to our husbands and not even know it! We NEED to take hold of the truth that God has given us in His Word, that only He can satisfy us, perfectly and completely. And let go of our husbands, or whoever we may have these unfair expectations on, so that they can experience God's perfect and complete love for them!
Thank you Lysa, for sharing what God has shown to you.
No Small Affair
"Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth."
1 Corinthians 13:6 (NIV)
Devotion:
A few years ago, I sat with a beautiful young woman and watched the tears stream down her face. Six months before our meeting, her world was filled with so much -- a loving husband, a healthy toddler, and fun friends.
Life was full.
But some part of her heart still felt restless, unsettled, and a little empty.
She started to feel detached from her husband and disappointed in their relationship. Why couldn't he make her feel loved? Wasn't he supposed to right her wrongs, fill up her insecurities, and give her a lasting feeling of love?
Then one day she met a man who said things she'd longed to hear her husband say. He made her feel pretty and witty. Soon, she rationalized that she'd never really loved her husband in the first place. A web of lies was spun. She fell into the arms of the other man.
She had not wanted to come to the women's retreat. She knew it might make her feel guilty and she was past having any guilty feelings. She was just waiting for the right time to leave her husband and start over with the new love of her life. But her friends had started to grow suspicious of her pulling back from so many church activities. So, to appease them, she went.
Over the course of the weekend, the walls she'd so carefully constructed to keep everyone at a distance and her secret safe started to crumble. By Saturday night, she sat down with me and confessed her affair. She desperately wanted to know how I felt so full of God's love. She was now convinced it wasn't the love of another man her heart craved; it was the love of God.
Chasing love outside the will of God invites the exact opposite of love into our lives. 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8 is picture of God's perfect love. It is patient. It is kind. It does not envy... it is not self-seeking... it does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth... it always protects... it always perseveres. Love never fails. The things we chase in this world are opposite from God's love. False attempts at love will make us impatient, unkind, envious, self-seeking, resistant to the truth, reckless and temporary.
1 Corinthians 13 is not a description of what is inherently ours when we fall in love with another person. It is a description of God's love. This kind of love can be ours as we become more Christ-like. It is never focused inwardly. It is never about what I'm going to get from another person. It is deciding that this is the kind of love I will give away.
I am challenged by this. Because our souls were designed for God's fulfilling love, if we aren't staying closely connected to Him everyday, our hearts will start to feel empty. Restless. Unfulfilled.
Let us never get to the place where we think we are strong enough to not be tempted in this way. If we are all completely honest, we are only a few bad decisions away from the same kind of mess my sweet friend is now trying to untangle herself from. While I have complete hope in God's ability to restore her, the consequences of her chase for love will be severe on many levels.
The kind of love our souls crave will never be found in the things of this world. Lasting and perfectly satisfying love will only be found when we stop chasing the wrong kind of love and start living out the truths of God.
Dear Lord, help me rest in the security of Your love. Make me wise in how I guard my heart. May I never get lured into any kind of worldly, fake love. But if I ever start to get drawn away, God surround me with people who are bold enough to speak truth into my life. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
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