The Woman Who Loved Her Husband
“Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:” 1 Peter 2:23
A woman told me once she loved her husband. This was a big deal. See, her husband didn’t treat her the way God commands husbands to love their wives. He didn’t treat her with love, kindness, gentleness, and tenderness, as a strong, vibrant, godly head of his home who lived for Christ and demonstrated it in his heart, words, and actions toward her. Not at all. The gritty details are inconsequential. Anyone who has been treated poorly by a spouse understands how it feels to be mistreated in one form or another by the person with whom one took vows before God to love, cherish, and honor one another. I understand. I was abandoned by two husbands and greatly mistreated by the second. There is a message in this for ALL OF US regardless of our marital status. It’s a message about loving those who hurt us. The woman had no hesitation in saying she loved her husband. Just like I said I loved my husband who mistreated me – until the Lord by His Spirit woke me up, led me to repentance, and taught me what real love is and what real love does no matter how the other person treats us.
In the midst of my then husband divorcing me, the Lord told me if I really loved him, I would be more concerned about his relationship with God than his relationship with me. I would be more concerned with his eternity with Christ than my present with him. I would be more concerned with God’s will for his life than I would be with my dream for the two of us. I would want him saved, healed, delivered, and set free FOR GOD’S SAKE rather than for my sake so I could be treated well, feel better, and get what I wanted. I needed to repent of my pride, anger, hurt, bitterness, fear, control, manipulation, judgment, condemnation, and, yes, hatred, that God’s Spirit showed me filled my heart. I needed to choose through Christ to love and forgive him, pray for him, bless him, have compassion for him, care about him, wash his dirty feet so to speak, and lay down my life for him in whatever way God desired. For God’s sake!
Sometimes God calls us out of hard places for safety, and anyone being abused should seek the Lord, seek His Word, and seek godly counsel and obey God. But whether we are near the person hurting us or are far away like I was after the divorce, God ALWAYS calls us to walk in the love of the Lord Jesus Christ. My love in my marriage was a self-centered, all-consuming, sin-ridden love. Now I am learning what love really is and what love really does. Real love is when we are willing to die to ourselves, to sacrifice our self-centered wishes and wants, and to yield our lives to Christ so God’s Spirit can live and love through us.
For God’s sake, love!