Love As God Loves 

   The word “love” is terribly misunderstood and misused in our society today.  The word has lost the meaning it is intended to have and has become just a way of saying how much we like "things".  But love doesn’t apply to inanimate objects, only our brothers and sisters in this life and to God.

   Love is the conscious desire for the good of the beloved even when it is painful or difficult.  To love as God loves means the willingness to give up even your life for the beloved as Christ did on the cross for each of us, both the sinners and the righteous.

   Marriage is to be an example of love as is intended.  Love for God and love for the beloved.  Love is not demanding, nor is it ever to be used as a bargaining chip to get something we want.  When pride and selfishness enter the marital relationship, they destroy what makes it beautiful.

   Love of a spouse should come as close as possible to the love of God.  It should be concerned only with the increase of love between spouses and between them and God.  A marriage that does not honor God as its center is a marriage that is at risk of failing.

   When we look to God with love and offer ourselves to Him and His will, we will be greatly blessed in this life and know perfect joy in the next.