Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.
John 15:13
Have you put conditions on the love you have for your spouse? I know that's a pretty tough question to lead with, but I think it is an appropriate question. We have made it so easy to walk away from covenant based on conditions. It's become acceptable to end friendships, relationships, and even marriages when we feel that we aren't happy or "the season is over" - when our conditions are not met.
But here is the thing: God is not concerned about what is socially acceptable. He is not impressed by our deep, spiritual reasons for breaking covenant. He designed covenant to be forever. In biblical times, the two parties who were entering covenant would bring salt to pour into a bag. The only way that the covenant could be broken was if they could identify and separate their individual grains of salt. Sounds impossible, right? Exactly! Covenant was designed not to be broken.
Covenant was designed to be a display of real love. Real love isn't the stuff fairy tales and Disney movies are made of, and it's not just a song Mary J. Blige sang about in the 90s. Real love takes action and not just words.
Real love is with you in the good times and the bad times.
Real love is constant and consistent.
Real love is accompanied by feelings, but not based on feelings.
Real love helps and does not hurt.
Real love does what is right even when it doesn't feel right.
Jesus said that real love is sacrificial. That's what He did for us - He laid down His own life for the punishment that we deserved. We didn't deserve His love, but He gave it to us anyway.
I'm determined to display real love in my marriage and my relationships, and I hope that you are too. This week examine where you have put conditions on the love that you share and ask God to help you share His unconditional love instead.
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