impossible love

If you’ve attended any weddings, you’ll know that the majority of couples getting married choose verses from the famous love chapter in the Bible (1 Corinthians 13) as a favourite Scripture to be read during their ceremony. Here’s a selection about this impossible love taken from verses 4 to 8.

Love is patient, love is kind. Love does not envy, is not boastful, is not conceited, does not act improperly, is not selfish, is not provoked, and does not keep a record of wrongs. Love finds no joy in unrighteousness but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

As the bride and groom gaze into each other’s eyes, they’re convinced these verses are talking about them, and the love they’re feeling for each other right then! Actually, this entire chapter describes God’s love (agape love in the Greek), a quality of love impossible to generate within ourselves. It’s critical to realize we are not the source of agape: we can only be receivers — and then distributors of what we have.

So what is the best way to love your spouse? Be an excellent receiver of God’s unconditional love for you, and then pass on what you have received from God! In essence, you become a conduit of God’s love: first experienced yourself, and then passed on to your spouse.

The beauty of a God-centered relationship is not just about reading the Bible together, not just about praying together, or not just about having the same core values. The beauty is our vital connection with Christ enabling us to receive His love — and then give it freely to our spouse!