LOVE DARe: Day 26

Love is responsible.

Love is responsible and is willing to admit and correct its faults and errors up front.

Love does not pass the blame so easily or justify selfish motives.

Personal responsibility is something we wish others to have but struggle to maintain it ourselves.

We are so quick to justify our motives.

So quick to deflect criticism.

So quick to find fault with our spouse who is of course the easiest one to blame.

Love is not nearly as concerned with its own performance as with others' needs.

Love does not make excuses.

I must re-learn to first admit my own wrongs instead of passing blame.

Love also calls me to take responsibility for my wife.

To love her.

To honor her.

To cherish her.

Pride is very resistant to responsibility, but humility and honesty before God and my wife is crucial for a healthy relationship (1 John 1:8-9).

This is my honest pray.

LOVE DARe: Day 25

Love forgives.

Great marriages are not created by people who never hurt each other, only by people who choose to keep "no record of wrongs" (1 Corinthians 13:5).

Inability to forgive is the most complex problem of all ( Matthew 18).

Forgiveness cannot just be considered and contemplated but must be deliberately put in practice.

Many a times we are unable to forgive because of perceived dangers and risks involved in forgiving others. 

Nevertheless, forgiveness does not absolve anyone of blame. It does not clear the offenders record with God.

Forgiveness saves the forgiver the trouble of trying to win.

Forgiveness is about freedom.

It is about letting go.

By forgiving I release my anger and the responsibility for judging the offender to the Lord.

LOVE DARe: Day 24

Love vs. Lust

Lust is in opposition to love.

Lust simply means to set our heart and passions on something forbidden. 

It is likened to the bottomless pit of unmet longings.

This includes but not limited to seeking sexual fulfillment in another person; lust after possessions or power or prideful ambition.

Lust always breeds lust.

Lust is the first step out of fellowship with the Lord and with others.

It represents the beginnings of a lie.

Rather than fulfillment, lust leads to emptiness.

It breeds anger, numbs hearts, and destroys marriages.

Only God's love can fill me. Lust is a misguided thirst for satisfaction that only God can fulfill.

I dare choose love.

I run to God for satisfaction (2 Peter 1:3-4).

I choose to be grateful for everything God has already given me rather than choosing discontentment.

While I am at it, I set my eyes and heart on my wife (Proverbs 5:18-21).

Lust is the best this world has to offer, but love offers me the best life in the world. Amen.

LOVE DARe: Day 23

Love always protects.

There are many enemies conspiring to destroy marriages:

Harmful influence;

Unhealthy relationships;

Shame;

Parasites.

I choose to guard the gate and stand my ground against anything that could threaten my wife or marriage.

I will guard my heart from things that may blur my perception of reality and put unfair expectation on my wife.

Indeed, love always protects.

LOVE DARe: Day 22

Love is faithful.

Christian love is the basis of our entire identity (John 3:16 & Luke 10:27).

Our love for each other is the root and ground of our existence (Ephesians 3:17). 

The account of prophet Hosea's union to Gomer serves as a metaphor of God's love and God's faithfulness.

In God we have the model of what rejected love does. It stays faithful.

I can and will give undeserved love to my wife because God gave undeserved love to me.

Love is expressed the most to those who deserve it least.

I pray to God that He fills me with the kind of love only God can provide.

I purpose to give that love to my wife in a way that reflects my gratefulness to God for loving me. Amen .

LOVE DARe: Day 21

Love is satisfied in God.

The last two dares leave no doubt that I need God every single day.

God alone can satisfy, even when all else fails me.

God can always be trusted to deliver on God's promises.

I am becoming increasingly aware my wife will never be able to satisfy all the demands I ask of her - partly because some of my demands are unreasonable, partly because she is human.

I dare to approach God in utter dependence each day for the real needs in my life (Philippians 4:6-13).

I dare plug into God for my need to be loved; my need for acceptance; and my need for joy.

This I believe - God's faithfulness, God's truth, and God's promises to God's children will always remain the same.

God changes not!

God is my everyday supply. 

Of everything I need (Psalm 37:4; Philippians 4:19).

Amen and amen!

LOVE DARe: Day 20

Love is Jesus Christ.

"While we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly" (Romans 5:6).

By His death, Jesus made invalid the idea that I am unloved and devalued.

His love cannot be fully comprehended. 

Such love cannot be earned. It is to be received!

When I have received this love as my own, I am free to love in ways I have never been capable before.

Because of His great love displayed on the Cross, I am able through Grace to walk in the fullness and blessing of His love.

True Love is found in Christ Alone. Oh Jesus, help my unbelief!

I dare to take God at His Word.