God is love and love is God.
The love we have for God is the benchmark for how we love others. If we love God with limits than similarly, we cannot love conditionally.
If we don’t learn and practice forgiveness than we cannot forgive and receive forgiveness from those we claim to love.
It is for the reason that God commands us to wait. To mentor and chastise and teach before releasing to love.
For if marriage is a reflection of Christ’ love to the church, how do we marry without first possessing the love of Christ and how do we demonstrate love to the church if we truly don’t love the church.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 King James Version (KJV)
4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 New Living Translation (NLT)
4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
Although newer translations are easier are on the eye, I find them harder on the soul.
The KJV defines love as charity whereas the NLT only refers to love as love. The difference is the distinction that love is serving. It does for others what Christ did for us. Offers itself completely, without restraint, without denial, without pride, without question. True love gives itself away. When we meet someone that we inevitably love the way Christ loved the church – then we know we have fulfilled God’s purpose for us in aesthetic love. For all things, all commitments exist to serve God, to edify his holy purpose of saving as many souls as possible. We thus seek to commit only to he that is capable of expanding our commitment to Christ. We seek to enjoin ourselves only with he that can expand our ministry on Earth and in Heaven. We seek to entrust our vulnerability only to he that can return our freewill back to God so that even in our abandonment our worship is transcended by passion and not stymied by lust.
Now, let us celebrate the union of two souls dedicated toward one eternal agenda.
Now, let us join with the Holy Angels who marvel and sing praises at the victories once threatened now guaranteed as a result of the said union.
Now, let us go forth submitting in love, leaving pride and shame in yesterevening.
Now, let us rejoice that we have elevated once more in eschewing sin. Already free in Christ, now additionally free in one another. Let us together find good wise counsel in God, further strengthened in Christ power for two faiths are stronger than one. As doubt periodically creeps unto the other, let us take turns in watching for its arrival and its slaying. Succeeding always, thus steering each other always, back unto the narrow Heavenly way.
For two swords are stronger than one, for iron sharpeneth iron and faith edifies faith.
