Thoughts on Love

Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live and in your name I will lift up my hands. --Psalm 63:3-4

Last Valentine's day, my husband was out of state for a convention. The following weekend he surprised me with a belated Valentine's celebration. He brought me breakfast in bed, a beautiful bouquet of white tulips (my favorite!) and told me that he had tickets to a performance of "Hamlet" in San Diego, followed by dinner at a snazzy restaurant downtown. Needless to say, I was impressed, delighted and thankful for his expressions of love for me. The best part is, he treats me that well on a regular basis, not just on special occasions. Every chance I get, I tell people about that day, bragging about the wonderful, thoughtful man who married me.

I realize that not everyone has an earthly relationship they can brag about. But what about spiritual relationships? Have you ever stopped to consider the amazing ways that God has declared his love for you?

God's love for you is more incredible and far reaching than any relationship you could ever have with another human being. God loves you so much that he sent his son to take on the punishment you would have had to face for your sins. God called you by name, welcomed you into his family, and provides for your every need. He also throws in lots of blessings along the way. He does all this not in response to anything you could have done. He does it simply and amazingly out of his unending love for you.

My favorite reference to the way that God loves us is found in the country song "Love Without End, Amen", sung by George Strait. In it he compares his relationship with God to that of a daddy and his child. He says that "daddies don't just love their children every now and then. It's a love without end, Amen. " How true that is. God doesn't love us on particular holidays or when we've been exceptionally well behaved. He doesn't choose to love us out of a sense of pity or charity. He loves us because he wants to. His love is not based on anything we do or don't do. His love never ceases.

I am thankful that in at least some small way, my marriage is giving me a taste of God's love. It is exciting to me to know that the ability my husband and I have to love one another comes directly from God. The more I learn about loving my husband and the more I learn about how and why he loves me, the more I learn about God's love. I don't think I'll ever be able to fully comprehend the love that God has for me. Even if I can't ever explain it adequately to anyone else, it's definitely something worth telling them!