By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. (1 John 4:9-11)Interestingly, Paul had the same sort of command for husbands.
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. (Eph 5:25-27)This command is a special command. It is especially for Christians. It is especially for husbands. It is particularly for Christians loving fellow believers and husbands loving their wives. And it is unambiguous. Not just "as you love yourself." Instead, "As I have loved you."
So it leaves me wondering: what does that look like? How would it look if we did that? Sure, it's a lot of self-sacrifice, but what would it look like if you, husbands, loved your wives that way? What would it look like if your church loved each other that way? What would it look like if you Christians loved other Christians in your neighborhood, your town, your state, your nation, your world that way? Just how different would things look if we sought to obey that one, simple, solitary command? What it look like if I worked harder at obeying that one, simple, solitary command in my home, my church, my world? For starters, I'd assume, it would look a lot less like it was about me, wouldn't it?
1 comment:
What a great question. It's certainly something that we should endeavor to live out.
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