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Called to Love
By Faith_Mom | October 22, 2008
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’
But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? - Matthew 5:43-46
Who is our enemy?
I think this goes way deeper than the obvious. I believe that our “enemy” can be the person in bed next to us each night. It can be a sister in Christ sitting in the pew next to us every Sunday.
Who is our enemy?
Well, today, I am going to focus on our marriages. So, today’s “enemy” will be our mate.
Do not misunderstand. Our husband’s are not really our enemies. However, if you look at the meaning of enemy it means; antagonistic, hostile, belligerent. A LOT of marriages experience these emotions at one point or another.
It can be very hard to love someone who treats you badly or says hurtful things to you. Especially if that person is your spouse. You expect more. You have made vows. This is the one person in the world who you expect to love you and treat you right.
Unfortunately, we are in a sinful world and we marry with baggage. We take the junk of our pasts into our marriages and soon the “honeymoon” state is a distant memory. It is in many cases easier to love an enemy we do not know personally then the person we go to bed with each night.
It’s not always easy to love our husbands. It can be downright difficult. I struggle with this on a daily basis. We are just so different.
I believe the main reason it is difficult to “love” our husbands is because we allow our “feelings” to get in the way. Our “feelings” (aka our flesh) will always steer us in the wrong direction. We must choose to love. We must submit our feelings to the foot of the cross….and leave them there! We must choose to love our enemies husbands. We must choose to love those who wrong us.
Love is a choice that we must MAKE each day.
Our husbands will never deserve our love or do enough to earn it. They will ALWAYS let us down. We must put our hearts, hope and trust in the Lord. He is the ONLY One Who will NEVER leave us. NEVER forsake us. NEVER hurt us and ALWAYS love us. We must let go of our unrealistic expectations about our husbands and love them the way they are. After all…
We are CALLED to love…
and God loves US the way we are!
Once we understand that “feelings” have nothing to do with love, then we will be better equipped to walk in Love.
Will it be easy?
No WAY!
It wasn’t easy dying on a cross either!
Copyright © Lara Velez, All Rights Reserved
Let’s Pray,
Daddy God, I love You. Thank You for loving me. Thank You for the man You gave me. Help me to love and see him like You do. Help me to choose to love him. Show me when I am letting my fleshly feelings decide. Help me to understand love and put it into daily practice in my life. I love You and want to please You and learn this walk of Love. Thank You for Loving me. In Jesus Mighty Name, Amen.
Homework
OK, this isn’t too hard. Study in depth 1 Corinthians 13.
In His Love and Service,
Lara 
Copyright © Lara Velez, All Rights Reserved
Topics: Devotionals, Marriage, Spiritual Growth |
October 22nd, 2008 at 1:49 pm
I think you hit the nail on the head - expectations can destroy us and any relationship. When I decided to get rid of the expectations I placed on my husband, the kids, and ME life got a lot simpler.
Great post!
October 22nd, 2008 at 2:11 pm
Thank you for this fantastic devotion!
October 22nd, 2008 at 4:25 pm
wonderful!!