Married to Christ

For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word.  He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault.  Ephesians 5:25-27 

Today marks the twentieth anniversary of my marriage.  I have been truly blessed to have Loretta as my wife.  She has been incredibly supportive of me, and brings joy to my life each and every day.  Despite how I can be a challenge to deal with, she continues to love me unconditionally.  In the midst of a world where there is such uncertainty and so much discourse, I can always come back to her and be centered and balanced.  She is truly my better half as I have written before, and when I look for an example of godly living, she is quite simply the best!  Thus, it makes today’s verses both easy and challenging.  Easy because she is indeed easy to love.  Challenging because I have to love her the right way giving to her as Christ did so to us as the church. 

Christ’s love for the church is both a gift and a challenge.  We know Christ loves us, but it is important to note just how He loves us.  He did not just give His life for our sins but He did so to remove all sins such that when we can go before a Holy God in Heaven and become truly blameless.  My daughter got caught in telling a fib the other day, and it was clear she knew what she did was wrong.  My wife and I had to hold her responsible for her actions, but we still love her nonetheless.  As Christians, we will often do things that we know are wrong, but we are given grace nonetheless.  Our challenge is to be the hope that Jesus has for each of us.  We are challenged to represent the church through understanding God’s word and make it as it has always been intended; truly living through our actions and deeds.  

Jesus Christ chose us as His bride, and our accepting Him as Lord of our lives requires our commitment this relationship.  Despite our flaws and imperfections, we are made whole through Him, and He loves us unconditionally.  While we know we are unworthy of such gifts, we have been given new life through Him.  As such, we are called to be something greater than what we were before He came into our lives.  We are to represent His church in a manner than both honors His sacrifice and produces in us “through the power in Jesus Christ, every good thing that is pleasing to Him.”  (Hebrews 13:21b)  What can you place greater focus on your relationship with God?  How can you better represent yourself as “without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish?”  My prayer is that we are fully representative in our marriage to Christ.  Amen.