You must really love that woman!

The other night, my wife and I went to a concert here in St. Louis of an artist many people do not know who he is by name. His name is Michael O’Brien. He is actually the vocalist of our First Wedding Dance. He was a vocalist with the group Newsong and is now on his own preaching and singing. We had a great time to just be out on a date night (thanks grandparents for watching Cameron). He has talked about some struggles he has been through in his 20+ years of marriage and how him and his wife overcame them. Deirdre Pujols spoke as well about her somewhat popular husband, Albert, and their relationship and how God works in their relationship daily. We ended the evening by singing praise and worship and this is where it really started to hit me by a single comment Deirdre made and Michael emphasized.

We cannot love our spouses properly without unconditionally loving Christ.

Wow.

So that got me thinking about how much I love my wife. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in everything in our lives with work and kids and issues we face, that we forget how important the relationship is BETWEEN A MAN AND A WOMAN, really means. Paul in his letter to the Ephesians was quite clear how much we are to love our wives. “²⁵Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” (Ephesians 5:25, NIV).

So then how much does Christ love His church? Well, we recently remembered a day in which he DIED for us so I would say He loves us quite a bit. So then I asked myself, would I die for her? I sat back and without a doubt I would. There are not many people on this Earth it would take less than a second to answer that question, but I would. I recently almost tried to die for her without even trying (See How Great is our God).

My mom asked me a great question when I told her I was going to ask Stephanie’s hand in marriage a few years back. She asked me “Can you live without her?” I immediately said no. I cannot live without her as she is the one who completes me. The main thing is that I need to tell her that and communicate that to her through action and words. I cannot get wrapped up so much in life that I forget not only who completes me here on Earth, but who was the One who completed us.

I love you Stephanie!