True Love in Your Marriage: A 3-Day Marriage Planنموونە

Then You Came

Love never fails.

1 Corinthians 13:8

The young husband was desperate. His wife had abandoned him and their two children weeks before. Though she still called occasionally, he had no idea where she was.

On the phone, he pleaded with her to come home and told her how much he and the children loved her, yet she continually rebuffed him. Was it time to give up and move on?

No. The husband used his meager savings to hire a detective, who found his wife living in a third‐rate hotel across the country. The husband borrowed money for a plane ticket. Soon he was on her doorstep saying, “We love you so much. Won’t you come home?” She fell apart in his arms, and they went home together.

Weeks later, he asked why she hadn’t come when he expressed his love repeatedly on the phone. “Because,” she answered, “those were only words before. But then you came.”

True love is more than words. It may involve flying across the country, even when it costs you your last nickel to bring your spouse home.

Just between us . . .

·How have I shown you my love this week?

·If “actions speak louder than words,” are my deeds shouting or whispering my love for you?

·What can I do this week to show my love for you?

·How, specifically, did Jesus show us His love?

Dear Lord Jesus, we want both our words and our actions to say “love” in personal, powerful, and positive ways. Show us new ways to “honor one another above ourselves.” Amen.

Excerpted from Night Light for Couples, used with permission.

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. (Eph. 5:1-2, ESV)

“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” (Eph. 5:31, ESV)