Love in Action

Duane Vander Klok

I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Ephesians 4:1-3

Marriage is a covenant, and you cannot decide on your wedding day how you will feel toward your spouse for the rest of your life, but you can decide how you will act. Love is not a feeling, love is a choice. Jesus said, “This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends,” John 15:12-13. When He was going to the cross to lay down His life for you, Jesus wasn’t feeling love, He was acting on it. The night before He was on the cross, He was in the garden sweating drops of blood asking God if there was another way. You see, even though He did not feel like dying on a cross, He went out of love for you. Love is a choice.

When it is difficult to love, you may think, “It would be so much better if I was single.” But when you are single it is easy to say, “It would be so much better if I were married.” The truth is that every situation is going to present challenges. But as a believer, you are able to discern how God calls you to love in every situation—you are called to be like Christ in every encounter. Marriage is a wonderful opportunity to grow more and more like Jesus.