A Picture Of Giving Love

love - A Picture of Giving Love

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church. Ephesians 5:25

I watched as Mr. Lacy looked into the window and checked his reflection. He carefully combed his hair and straightened his tie. He had to be seventy years old, yet he acted as eager as a schoolboy. He was a regular visitor to the local nursing home. He was meeting his wife, a victim of Alzheimer’s disease.

His wife never spoke much, but it didn’t seem to matter to him that he got no response. He still made cheery conversation, read letters from family, sang to her, fed her, and just held her hand.

That’s the kind of love God had in mind when He laid out His plan for marriage. Real love is a commitment to care for another regardless of the response, regardless of what is given in return. Christ took human form to demonstrate that kind of love to us—at the cross.

Mr. Lacy is a privileged man who loves his wife in a way the world can look at with a deep sense of longing. He paints for us a beautiful picture of what Christ’s love looks like.

When I (David) reflect on Christ’s “giving Himself up” for me, I’m often challenged to ask myself what I have given up lately in order to better love Teresa. At times the answers are convicting. I have often been very stingy and shallow in my giving to her.

The Lord has gradually broadened my opportunities to “give up” more of myself, my plans, my time, and my priorities for my wife. The irony has been that the giving no longer feels like giving, as the joy it’s brought Teresa has blessed me beyond anything I’ve given.

In what ways can you “give up” more of yourself for your spouse today?