Far and NearSample

When people are getting married, they are asked, “If your spouse never changes throughout your entire marriage, would you still choose to marry them?” Only when your answer is yes, should you go ahead and marry that person. 

So, when the bridegroom (Jesus) chose the bride (us), He accepted the possibility that some of us would keep making mistakes, sometimes the same ones. But He also knew that if we ever caught the revelation of His love, there would be a revival in our hearts that would change us forever. 

When my husband and I started dating, I lacked a lot of patience. What is interesting, though, is that he never complained about it. He loved me so hard in the moments when I showed no patience. He remained consistent, and one day, I can't pinpoint when it happened, but he brought it up, and commended me for becoming a more patient person, and laughed about all the times I had no patience. 

The main takeaway from this story is that we are all capable of change. What matters is that we have people who continue to love us despite our flaws. In this case, what caused me to change was my husband and how his love towards me remained UNCHANGED. The more I encountered his love for me, the more my heart desired to love him even better. 

This is what receiving the love of Jesus can do for us without any elaborate displays of spirituality. If we took the simple step of saying 'yes' to His love for us, without putting the expectation on ourselves to change or become something else, something wonderful could happen. If we just said YES to His love, we would find ourselves on the journey to great discovery.

PRAYER

Lord, I find myself in a place where I have no strength to pray or even read the bible. I am tired and broken and lack the power to keep going. I am still making mistakes, and I feel so far away from you, but your words tell me that there is no fear in love and that anybody who fears doesn't understand your love. Today, teach me to understand the foundations of your love. Show me where it starts, and help me trust you enough to bring myself to you, even when I don’t have it all figured out.