on Love....

I will admit that I was the inconsiderate husband this year in forgetting Valentines Day. In my defense.....I was spiking a fever every 4-6 hours from February 13-15, home on the couch. So, to show I'm not an unloving jerk I'm posting an entry on the topic of love.

I am in desperate love with my beautiful wife. In 9 years of marriage we've had ups and downs-but things are the best they've ever been and I can legitimately say I can't imagine being with or loving anyone else. The thought never crosses my mind. She holds my heart in her hands and her breath is my life...........those words from my vows 9 years ago and still true today.

Guys-let's talk about love, but let's do so in our very primal beginning, as God created it to be understood. In order to do this, we need to understand how God created us to be. I recently finished another short book by John Eldridge called "Epic", that goes to the heart of this.

I dare say we've heard a bit about original sin (he's making an intentional understatement here), but not nearly enough about original glory, which comes before sin and is deeper to our nature. We were crowned with glory and honor. Why does a woman long to be beautiful? Why does a man hope to be found brave? Because we remember, if only faintly, that we were once more than we are now.

God creates us in His image, with powers like unto His own-the ability to reason, create, to share intimacy, to know joy. He gives us laughter and wonder and imagination. And above all else, He endows us with that one quality for which He is most known.

He enables us to Love.

He gives us the greatest gift of all creation-a Heart. Just as we've lost our wonder at the world around us (more to come on this), we have forgotten what a treasure the human heart is. All the happiness we have ever found or ever hope to find is unreachable without a heart. You could not live or laugh or love or cry had God not given you a heart.

And with that heart comes something that staggers me. God gives us the freedom to reject Him.

I've struggled with this last statement recently. Because I've seen people I love walk away from a God who I know is reaching out to their heart. And I think to myself.......as much as God loves each one of us, and knowing how I love my wife.........how it would kill me if she walked away from me. But, in any relationship, be it marriage or friendship-we know it has to be mutual-hence, the freedom to reject.

So, from here I say allow your heart to love. Rediscover the passion once found in your wife by opening your heart to her. Be man enough to admit to yourself you have friends that you love-and if it makes sense and won't result in a black eye, admit it to them. Truly applying your heart to love is reflecting that greatest quality found in God's image, an image we were created in.