Belief and Behavior

This summer, Randy and I will have been married 45 years! Wow, where did the time go? For almost half a century, our hearts have beat as one. Guess what? After all these years, I haven’t stopped trying to love and please him. My heart still beats a little faster as I finish my drive home from work, hoping he beat me home from his work, so we can see each other again after a long day. I am disappointed if he is not there and I have to wait on him.

I even still try to look my best, which is trickier as we get older…it takes longer…but my desire is to please him! (If we take off our glasses, we look great!) We love just being together. He brings out the best in me. My desire is to bring out the best in him. We are not perfect but we have a Savior who forgives, taught us to forgive and is preparing us as His Bride to be eternally with Him.

We are all in preparation for what is next. HOW are we preparing? Do we bring out the best or the worst in each other as a church under Christ? Paul uses husband and wife relational words to also guide us to be a church submitting ourselves to Christ. Even though we have been life-long church people, do we give up as brides of Christ and stop trying to please Him? Do we become mellow and dull in our relationship with Jesus as He works to prepare His Bride for His coming? Or do our hearts beat a little faster when we talk about His love for us and our love for Him? Do we allow God to bring out the best in us? Mm.

Relationships.

21 Out of respect for Christ, be courteously reverent to one another.

22-24 Wives, understand and support your husbands in ways that show your support for Christ. The husband provides leadership to his wife the way Christ does to his church, not by domineering but by cherishing. So just as the church submits to Christ as he exercises such leadership, wives should likewise submit to their husbands.

25-28 Husbands, go all out in your love for your wives, exactly as Christ did for the church—a love marked by giving, not getting. Christ’s love makes the church whole. His words evoke her beauty. Everything he does and says is designed to bring the best out of her, dressing her in dazzling white silk, radiant with holiness. And that is how husbands ought to love their wives. They’re really doing themselves a favor—since they’re already “one” in marriage.

29-33 No one abuses his own body, does he? No, he feeds and pampers it. That’s how Christ treats us, the church, since we are part of his body. And this is why a man leaves father and mother and cherishes his wife. No longer two, they become “one flesh.” This is a huge mystery, and I don’t pretend to understand it all. What is clearest to me is the way Christ treats the church. And this provides a good picture of how each husband is to treat his wife, loving himself in loving her, and how each wife is to honor her husband.

Reflection:
There is so much to think about as we evaluate our relationships with God through Jesus, His Son, with our marriages, our family and friends, our coworkers, and even strangers who we will come in contact with on this journey called Today. Will I work to bring out the best in others as I submit to and revere Christ as Lord?

Dear Heavenly Father,
Our relationship with You has been the most important thing on Your mind since You created us. Our relationships with each other are also important as we work to bring out the best in each other as Your bring out the best in us. Thank you for loving us…help us love like You love. Unconditionally.
In Jesus Name, Amen