There are some tremendous resources on marriage and relationships.  Andy Stanley has developed "iMarriage" and "Staying in Love".  Mark Gungor has a seminar titled "Laugh Your Way to a Better Marriage".  He has a website and a podcast.   Focus on the Family has tremendous resources on marriage.  Their newest resource is "Ready to Wed".  This premarital resource is a congregation program with mentor couples who work with newlyweds.  All of these resources are Bible based.  The real truth is a great marriage is built on our relationship with Christ.  With the World Wide Web you can have access to these resources.

 

As we approach Valentine's Day on February 14 retailers will try to convince you that love can be expressed with a purchase.  Gifts and flowers are nice but it is what we do with each other every day that makes healthy relationships.  What we learn from scripture is that love is not simply an emotion.   Love is not a thing.  Love is not something we fall into, like a puddle.  As we look at scripture God says love is something, he is, and we do.  God is love.  He demonstrates his love for his foremost visible creatures, you and me, in his creation.  He demonstrates his love for us in the first covenant he made with Abraham.  He demonstrates his love for us in the Ten Things he shares in Exodus 20.  His unfailing love is demonstrated through the prophets.  Ultimately he shows us the full extent of his love in the person and work of His son Jesus Christ.   "God so loved the World that he sent his only begotten Son... (John 3:16)

 

God's love for us is unconditional.  He loves us in spite of our brokenness.  His love for us lifts us up and makes us Holy.  God demonstrates his love for us in providing for our daily needs and our eternal salvation.  His love never fails.  God is love.

 

As the beloved of God we share his love.  My wife tells me to read First Corinthians 13 and substitute my name for the word love.  This is how we are to share God's love.  When I do this I realize this is impossible for me to do.  Still, this is how God loves me and this is how I respond to his love.   It is not about me but it is about how I respond to God's love.

 

Scripture has much to say about how we are to love one another.  Love is something God does for us.  Then love is something we share with others.  God's love for us is unconditional.  He has no expectations of his fallen creatures.  We do not go to him or meet him half way.  He comes to us and makes us holy.  This is how we are loved.  Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church.  Wives submit to your husbands out of reverence for Christ this is from Ephesians chapter five.   Please note that Paul says: this is a profound mystery but I am talking about Christ and the church.  We are the beloved of God.  Without Christ we cannot love.  With Christ there is no one we cannot love.  Love is something we do because of who we are.  Paul says we are to love as we have been loved.  We help others.  We serve others.  We forgive others.  We encourage others because that's what love does.  God is love.  As his beloved we share his love.   Make love a verb.