This past weekend I was challenged to rediscover the love of Christ in my life. Why? Because I was feeling slightly burnt out from ministry; a little overwhelmed by life (being pregnant is NO JOKE) and my patience was wearing thin – blame the tiredness of pregnancy or my inability to deal with the daily challenges of life…I was depending on myself and failing miserably.
What Young Life taught me about my marriage
As I’m sure everyone knows by now, I’ve had the wonderful privilege of serving as a Volunteer Leader for Young Life in our community for the last 3 years. Over this past weekend we had our annual Volunteer Leadership Weekend where we plan for the next year, get realigned as leaders and come together as a region (go South Coast Region!) and spend time in worship, prayer and being invested in through teaching.
Needless to say, it was a wonderful, beautiful, challenging, defining weekend.
2 Corinthians 5:14-15 was the theme,
“For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.”
My Challenge
This was challenging for me to hear because it blatantly identified that I (ME) was the one who I was depending on to, in this case, reach high school students for Jesus…a great set-up for failure on so many levels.
So of course, I took it one step further – my marriage.
Taking the preggo hormones out of the equation, was I really allowing Christ’s love to compel me in how I acted and in the words I’ve been speaking to Ryan? Self-inventory time (again).
These verses challenged me to ask myself, do I really understand and have I honestly been compelled by Christ’s love that it is spilling over into my life – more importantly my marriage? Or am I relying on myself and my own knowledge to make my marriage work?
Do I really understand Christ’s love?
If I truly understand the depth and beauty of the love of Jesus – the one and ONLY Son of God; who is without sin (2 Corinthians 5:21), to take my place, and endure punishment on a cross that I deserve…if I begin to truly understand this, how can my response be anything other than (1) worship and (2) love for the people in my life. Most importantly, my husband.
The love of Christ should be our source for loving our spouse and in turn, loving those around us. It doesn’t depend on us, it never has and never will.
Christ’s love is compelling. It’s crucial for us to not only understand this, but experience it through daily time spent reading God’s Word, prayer and worship.
Jesus’ love > marriage troubles
If we are having trouble in our marriages; loving and being kind to our spouse…perhaps it’s time we dive into the Word and rediscover the beautiful, unconditional, strong, pure love that Christ has for each of us.
Allow HIS love to compel you and lead you in how to love and your spouse in the way that will bring glory to our Father.
Question: How has Christ’s love compelled you to act in your marriage?
Photo by Beatrice Murch
Have you heard of the The 31-Day Pursuit Challenge?
Every marriage begins with passion, purpose, and pursuit, but few stay that way. That’s why we wrote Husband in Pursuit and Wife in Pursuit Together, they make what we’re calling the 31-Day Pursuit Challenge. Couples are encouraged take the challenge together. We’re already starting to hear stories of transformed marriages! Are you up for the challenge?
