Lay down love

Sarah Habben

These days, marriage is about as popular as powdered wigs. Divorce abounds; cohabiting is the norm. Part of the problem is that godly love has lost its seat to worldly passion. If passion opens its hungry mouth and roars, feed it whatever it wants! But if passion fades, so does your obligation.

Godly love is different. “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters” (1 John 3:16).

Love isn’t something you fall in and out of. Love is a laying down. Godly love pinnacled on the cross when Jesus laid down his life for us, his enemies.

But Jesus also loved us by leaving heaven to live with us. By losing sleep to pray for us. By skipping supper so he could touch a few more hearts. By befriending the uncool and unclean. Each deliberately placed tile of Jesus’ love creates a beautiful new foundation for our lives as spouses or singles. His love covers the ugly laminate of our past mistakes.

Best of all, his love gives us the power to act in kind. We can lay down our lives and, maybe harder than that, our unruly passions in order to serve others. We who are single can love by zealously guarding the virginity of our special someone. We who are married can love by choosing to give (and forgive) without keeping count.

Christ Jesus, make your love my passion. Amen.

Devotion used by permission of Time of Grace®. For more information, visit timeofgrace.org