Jesus is the Only Perfect Love

love your husband day 5

“Neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:39

“When I have learnt to love God better than my earthly dearest, I shall love my earthly dearest better than I do now.” -C. S. Lewis

  • Grab something hot and delicious to drink, your Bible, journal, a pen and a candle and go to the place where you meet with your Jesus.
  • Read the following beautiful Scriptures: Hebrews 13:5, Psalm 139:17-18, Psalm 147:3, Psalm 147:3, Romans 8:39, and John 3:16.
  • Pray and ask God to teach you about His great love for you.

Jesus is the Only Perfect Love

Kent, my husband, and I did not really go through premarital counseling. Instead, we received 30 minutes from the Southern Baptist preacher his parents flew in to perform our wedding. One thing Tommy, our preacher, said to us has stuck with me. He said, “There are going to be times in your marriage when you are not going to be in love with your spouse. But if you are in love with your marriage, you can get through those tough times.”

What wonderful advice!

A simple way to be in love with your marriage is to fall in love with God. God desires to be the first priority in our lives, even above our marriage. When we put God first, it increases our faith in every area of our lives, especially in our marriage, and helps us through the many phases and seasons of our lives together.

We all go through seasons as couples. There are joyful as well as challenging seasons in every marriage, but the nature of our marital relationship should not change. The nature of Christian marriage involves two people committed to each other who strive to put God first in their relationship, in good times and bad.

Putting God first means that we only expect God to be the perfect One, and He alone is able to meet all of our needs in a way that no human being can. By keeping God in the proper place in our lives, it helps us to love more unconditionally and without borders, thus allowing our husbands to fail and be a fellow human being.

I love what Ruth Bell Graham says about only expecting God to meet our needs:

“I pity the married couple who expect too much from one another. It is a foolish woman who expects her husband to be to her which only Jesus Christ Himself can be: ready to forgive, totally understanding, unendingly patient, invariably tender and loving, unfailing in every area, anticipating every need, and making more than adequate provision. Such expectations put a man under an impossible strain. The same goes for the man who expects too much from his wife.” (Ruth Bell Graham)

God loves you perfectly, and His love for you never changes. He alone loves you completely, with an everlasting love. God loves us with our faults, bad days, and shortcomings. Our husbands can never love us the way God loves us, so it’s really not fair to expect them to love us as He loves us.

When we put God first in our marriage, we spend time with Him. We read His Word and allow the truth of His love to change us.

In the Bible, we read things like:

Hebrews 13:5 tells us “Never will I leave you; Never will I forsake you.” What a promise!

Psalm 139:17-18 “How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them!” God is always thinking the very highest and best of you.

Psalm 147:3 “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” God is gentle when you need it most

Romans 8:39 “Neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” God promises nothing will come between you.

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” God’s love for you was so great that he was willing to die so that he would not have to live one day without you.

In contrast, when we expect our husbands to meet our needs, we can place unrealistic expectations on them and store up bitterness and unforgiveness if they fail to perform.

The best realization that we can ever come to in our marriage is to know that only God can meet our needs.

This blessed understanding allows us to love our husbands with mercy and grace and to see them as fellow Christ-Followers, who are walking this road to heaven together with us, keeping our eyes on the only Perfect One- our Savior, Jesus Christ.

May the Lord richly bless you as you follow Him and allow Him to meet your needs.

Questions to Ponder: Write the answers to these questions in your journal. 

  • Are you seeking God first in your marriage?
  • Do you remember to place God in the seat of honor in your home? If not, pray and ask God to open your heart to Him.
  • If you need help, pray 1 Corinthians 13 4-8 and ask God to etch the words upon your heart.

Faith Filled Idea:

Choose Joy with your spouse this week. When you are tired, annoyed or downright angry, choose to be happy with your husband. Let the light of Jesus shine through you. Take 10 minutes to journal about your spouse today.

Write down all the different things you love about him, the character aspects that make you proud and the hopes you have for your future together.

Pick out a bible verse to pray specifically for your spouse. I chose 2 Corinthians 4:8 for Kent as he is transitioning between work assignments.

 

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– What’s the best way you know of to encourage your husband?[/box]

Leslie Leonard
Latest posts by Leslie Leonard (see all)

5 Comments on “Jesus is the Only Perfect Love”

  1. Wow, this study is so good Leslie! This point of keeping God first in our marriages and relying on Him to provide for us rather than placing all the burden on our husbands is SO important! Thank you so much for sharing this.

    The best way I know to encourage my husband is to praise him and thank him. I don’t do this enough, but when I do I see his face just light up and the weight of the day kind of lifted! So pray that I can do this more often and have me speak it naturally and from the heart!

  2. So much to ponder…this devotional and advice is directly on point. Solid and beautiful, thank you Leslie!

  3. This is such wonderful advice Leslie! Thank you for giving me a new perspective on my marriage! How very encouraging! Thank you!

  4. What an insightful Bible study this is Leslie! I love your beautiful heart, and how you share it with us through your wonderful writing! Thank you for always being so open and honest, and for loving the Lord and your sweet precious family the way that you do. You are an inspiration to us all! I love you!

  5. That is a great perspective, Leslie! The best thing I can do to encourage my husband is to make our home a peaceful place for him, a place where he can forget his burdens from work and relax with his family. Today’s study is a good reminder for me to focus on helping him instead of piling on more burdens.

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