The more I come to know the God who embodies love, the more I realize that only He holds the key to unconditional love.
The Bible says Greater love hath NO MAN than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13.
This is a quality of love is what truly defines LOVE in it's divine organic nature, a love that thinks not of itself and lays itself down for the betterment of another. (1 Cor. 13:4-7)
This kind of love we see manifested in Jesus Christ. It is the kind of love that we can say in all honesty was and still is unconditional. A love He transferred from the throne to the cross that we all might become recipients of it IF we receive it! There is nothing we can do to earn it, to buy it, to "out-good-works" it or what have you, but simply and freely receive if you desire it!
However I have come to realize as a married man, that not only does the demonstration and gift of God's love on Calvary secure a place for me in salvation, but it sets a premise as well as an opportunity to receive such a love in order to not only be a recipient of, but also a distributer!
Husbands, love your wives, JUST AS Christ also loved the church and GAVE HIMSELF for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the WASHING OF WATER by the word, Ephesians 5:25-26
Have you ever tried washing your car with only soap and one small glass of water? Of course not! You know why? Because one glass of water is NOT enough to do the job of maintaining the FULL WASHING of a vehicle! And neither is a husband or wife's love alone sufficient enough to love another throughout the FULL duration of a marriage!
As one would need a hose CONNECTED to an unending supply of water, so one MUST be connected to an unending supply of love in order to keep loving the other through the good times and the hard times, through sickness and in health, for richer and for poorer!
It is easy to love someone in good times, but once that person would fail or disappoint you in some way, then your love towards them becomes not only tried, but found to no longer be given just as much! However that is not the case with God! The Bible says that GOD IS LOVE! (1 John 4:8)
Mankind's love alone is conditional, but God's love alone is unconditional. So if you want your love toward others to become unconditional, than you MUST GET CONNECTED to God's love and first be a recipient of His love before becoming a distributor of it!
You can not impart something you do not first possess!
Husbands and wives, this understanding will both save and keep your marriage strongly intact and able to endure the tests of times! It is not enough to just acknowledge a common belief in God, but you MUST on your own become a recipient daily of God's love toward you so that your life can become that channel that continues to dish out the love you spouse needs.
The more I got to know Laurel before we were married I could easily say she was the one for me, but I had to be sure to answer the question if I was the one for her! Because if I began my relationship thinking only about my needs and not hers, then already I would have not been equipped to allow God to use me and bring what it takes on my end to secure a strong marriage! As a husband I can only give the sort of love a husband could give, but when I add that to God's unending unconditional love by inviting His Lordship into our covenant, then my bride can rest assure she will get unending, godly, blessed, covenant, husband love!
The world says that unconditional love is just when one person is able to still be with the other and tolerate them, but the Bible indicates that unconditional love is the sort that keeps pumping 100 % commitment, 100% faithfulness, 100% respect, 100% honor and so on and does not fall sway into this twisted worldly mistake of 50/50 % love. The kind of handicapped love where two people meet in the middle, willing to only allow love go half way and not the full way. Only willing to put in half the effort, half the commitment and yet be miserable and wondering what on earth their relationship is not a dream come true! No wonder many think marriage is a mistake and needs practice before making such a commitment. The world sells marriage short by a long shot!
Marriage can still be dream come true when you allow the giver of dreams, GOD, to write your story and conduct the symphony of love that is to be both heard and shared!
People who think in terms of contract approach marriage thinking "what's in it for me", but those who know God's purpose of covenant enter marriage willing to explore the question "how can I serve and lay my life down for you?"
NO GREATER LOVE THAN THIS, which is one laying their own life, their own attitudes, their own desires down, all for the sake of another they love more than even their own selves! Oh no that's not desperation, THAT'S DEVOTION and THAT can never be done unless you first live and keep that sort of life before The Lord!
If one can't love The Lord unto eternity, then what makes one think they can love their spouse unto death in this life?