We realize many who read these posts may be in difficult marital situations and/or have a history of abuse or trauma. We want to honor your experiences and be gentle with your hearts. We encourage anyone in an abusive or dangerous situation to seek immediate help from a trustworthy organization. For those who have suffered trauma or abuse, we firmly believe in the ability of God to heal those hurts and urge you to find a competent Christian counselor to guide you down the long road to wholeness. ~ Scott & Teri Lynne
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Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. — Ephesians 5:25-28
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Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church …
It’s a huge expectation. Some days when I watch Scott as he sits in his recliner at the end of the day, I can see the weight of responsibility bearing down in his tired eyes and slumped shoulders. When he notices my stare, he always smiles and says, “I love you, babe.”
He does love me. I know that. In a thousand ways he’s shown that love from making sure my car has gas to cooking dinner so I can finish a writing project. He’s held me together when I’ve felt I was falling apart. He makes me laugh when I forget to find joy. He has sacrificed in more ways than I could ever list and made it possible for my lifelong dream of writing to come true.
But most of all I am certain of his love because every morning when I wake up, he’s here.
Love gives. Love sacrifices. Love stays.
Paul’s famous treatise on love in 1 Corinthians offers a poignant description of love. I love verse 7 {which we’ll pray through in a few days},
Love bears all things, believes all things,
hopes all things, endures all things.
Husbands, this is what we’re looking for … and we know it isn’t easy.
A love that bears all the insecurities we feel about ourselves and our bodies and our abilities as wives and mothers.
A love that believes in us when we can’t see anything good or valuable in ourselves.
A love that hopes for us when we get lost in the messy and mundane and swallowed up by the emotions we can’t seem to control.
A love that endures the hormones and breakdowns and fat pants and burned meals and lack of desire.
Wives aren’t always the easiest people in the world to love. Or maybe it’s just me … because if I’m honest there are days when I don’t even like myself and I can’t really blame Scott for not liking me either. And yet, even then, even when I can’t figure out why he would — he stays and he loves me.
Because that’s what love is and that’s what love does.
Love stays.
~ Teri Lynne
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Today’s Prayer
Lord, thank You for my husband. Thank You for this man who loves me so well. Help me love him well in return. Strengthen our love as the days turn into years and the years turn into a lifetime. As Your love endures, may our love also. May we love each other with the same sacrificial and selfless love You have shown to us through Your Son. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
#MarriagePrayers: Strengthen our love as the days become a lifetime. Click To Tweet**********
Thank you for joining us for #MarriagePrayers: 31 Verses to Pray for Your Marriage. Scott and I will be sharing a new verse and prayer every day throughout May, leading up to our 20th anniversary on June 1. You can find every day’s post indexed here. We pray you will be encouraged and challenged as you pray God’s Word for your marriage.
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