Born to Love and Be Loved

I spent much of my life believing that there was no way that anyone was ever going to marry me. There were a number of fears that raced through my mind, but two stood out among the rest. First, I struggled daily to see the beauty of my exterior. How would a woman be able to do the same? Second is that no one wants to live in a fishbowl, which is what you would get by committing to spend a life with me. No trip to the store and no romantic date would be complete without onlookers and stares. I thought those two things alone were enough to mark me as “damaged goods.”

I thought wrong.

I met Heather while working at a Christian camp after my junior year of college. We were married after my senior year of college. Some people thought we rushed into things and that we were too young to be married, but I totally disagree. God used my marriage to Heather to grow my faith and show me more about the love that He has for me.

My marriage shed a gigantic light on God’s love. It helped me to understand what it meant to love others as Christ loves me. I even began to gain a deeper understanding of the gospel itself because of my marriage. Just as Paul says in Ephesians 5:

Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.

The way I live out my marriage ought to show the watching world how Jesus loves them. God will use everything in our lives—including our marriages—for His glory. (Romans 11:36) Whether you are married, engaged, or single—how will you show the love of God to the world? Take this life and the love that God has shown you, and display that same pursuing love to the world.