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Falling
Out of Love
A
forty-year-old man, suffering through the classic
“mid-life crisis,” sat down
to talk to a preacher about his problems.
He explained how his marriage of 20
years was no longer satisfying or fulfilling.
Finally, he reached the “bottom
line”:
“I just don’t love her anymore,”
he said. “What
can I do?”
After
a brief moment of reflection, the preacher said
decisively,
“As I see it, you have only ONE option.....”
The
man perked up with anticipation.
Was the preacher going to suggest a divorce?
Would he be free to pursue the thrilling
lifestyle of the younger generation that he had come
to admire? Would
this be his chance to regain his fleeting youth?
What was the preacher’s advice?
“It
seems to me,” said
the preacher, “that the only thing left
for you to do is REPENT and start loving her again!”
According
to the Scriptures, to love one’s spouse is a COMMAND
from God. For
example, Ephesians 5:25 states: “Husbands, love your
wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave
Himself for her.”
One cannot command another’s feelings, but
one can command another’s WILL. The Bible defines love
(Gr. agape) as a decision of the will to seek the
higher good for the other person.
This love is not kindled (or re-kindled) by the
merit or worth of its object, but with a determination
of one’s mind to acting lovingly toward another.
It
is not enough to be "committed"
to your spouse for life, you must be "committed
to love" your spouse for life!
The
ultimate model for this kind of love is God Himself!
Wayne Hudson has written: “After many
years, I arrived at the only definition that makes any
sense. Since God is love [see 1 John 4:7-8] and
we must compare our love to him, we come up short if
we define it any other way.
For
you see, in the final analysis, "Love is a commitment with a beginning and no end." This
is the type of love that God has for us, and the type
of love that we need to have for God and others.
“But
God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while
we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans
5:8). God’s
love for us was not based upon our goodness or upon
our merits. In
fact, we are sinners, and continue to fall short of
the glory of God (Romans 3:23).
But God loved us so much that He gave His Son
to die for us on the cross (1 John 4:9-10) so that we
can have forgiveness and eternal life with Him.
These
blessings can be ours if we will respond to the love
of God on His terms: places our trust
in Jesus (Acts 16:30-31), repenting
of our sins (Acts 17:30-31), confessing
Jesus before men (Romans 10:9-10), and being baptized
(immersed) into Christ for the forgiveness of our sins
(Acts 2:38; 22:16).
Then He desires that we continue to demonstrate
our love for Him by continuing to follow His will.
As long as we do that, He has promised to
continue to cleanse us of our sins (1 John 1:7).
God
has not “fallen out of love” with us; He
NEVER will.
He loves us with an "everlasting
love" (Jeremiah 31:3).
However, He longs for us to respond to His love
with the SAME kind of love – a commitment with a
beginning and no end.
How
will YOU respond to His
love?
God bless you!
David
A. Sargent, Minister
Church of Christ at Creekwood
1901 Schillinger Rd. S.
Mobile, Alabama 36695
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