We hear this phrase a lot when we see two young people getting ready to tie the knot. They have the “look of love.” I’m currently working on a wedding for a friend and I get excited just thinking about the possibilities their love can bring. It can bond them as one. By taking the strengths of each and putting them together they can be one complete package.
The Bible has much to say about marriage. God gave marriage as the first institution. He made woman from man and gave them to one another. He also made the woman for the man!
Genesis 2:24 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”
I Corinthians 11:9 “Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man.”
The binding force that draws a couple together determines whether their love will last. When money, physical beauty, or personality, are the basis, the couple will have some very difficult days ahead. Anyone of these three things can change in a heartbeat. Money can be gone because of unforeseen circumstances, beauty can leave quickly through a catastrophe or age, and personality can change when there is no common bond. Couples grow bitter and spiteful when things don’t turn out the way they planned. However, when there is true love based on God’s plan it binds them together with cords that can’t be broken.
Colossians 3:14 “And above all these put-on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” (ESV)
When Christ is the center of the relationship hard times will only make their love stronger. Their love will grow deeper as they make sure they are there for each other. They will be led by the Holy Spirit which will direct them to the right paths. They will be trusting God, not their own strengths or understanding. When one is down the other picks him up, and helps to stabilize the situation. They are there for each other no matter what they are up against.
Proverbs 3:5 “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.”
Ecclesiastes 4:10-11 “For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up. Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone?”
They refuse to let the things and people of this world tear them apart. Their godly wisdom rises to the occasion when someone threatens their relationship. They determined, early on, that the word divorce will not be a part of their vocabulary. No family member can come between them. Not Mom or Dad stands between them. They also know the only way to ensure this is for both to stay sold out to the Lord. The thought of hurting the one that died for them hurts as much as if they were to lose each other. This is real love.
Mark 10:7-9 “For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife; And they twain shall be one flesh: so, then they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.”
This love looks like this. It suffers long, it is patient. It is kind, not mean-spirited, nor does it seek revenge when it thinks it has been done wrong. Real love does not envy when one partner is recognized over the other. As a matter of fact, real love would rather the other be recognized. Selfishness is obsolete. Real love does not brag about itself and is not egotistical. It is never arrogant or rude and it does not insist on getting its’ own way.
I Corinthians 13:4-5 “Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;”
What you just read is the look of real love. Where have you not shown real love? Real love is also very forgiving and repentant. So, if you have failed in any of these areas, and we all do somewhere on this road, do something about it. Determine you will have a biblical marriage that lasts as long as you both shall live!
