Divorce statistics for Christian marriages are just about on par with divorce statistics for non-Christian marriages. Shouldn’t Christians have more successful marriages, though? Does the Bible have any advice about how to have a happy, long-lasting, “till death do us part” kind of marriage? The Bible, in fact, does have a lot to say about what real love is like. So, Bible-reading Christians really ought to have an advantage in love relationships over those who know nothing about the Bible’s teachings on love. After all, 1 John 4:8 says, “God is love.” It stands to reason that knowing God, the Author of love, should really make Christians more loving in all their relationships.
Of course, experience shows that there is a clear difference between knowing and doing. Many Christians really have not learned the most basic requirements of Christianity. A person who loves Jesus, must also love his or her fellow humans. This is the most basic requirement of Christianity, for Jesus said, “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” John 14: 15 But which commandments was Jesus referring to?
In answer to the lawyer’s question, “Which is the great commandment in the law?” (Matthew 22:36) Jesus had answered, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.’” In this one answer Jesus showed that love is the foundation principle of God’s government.
Therefore, Christian homes should be the most loving of all sanctuaries on earth. Unfortunately, so often this simply isn’t the case. In many Christian homes, love is obviously missing.
God calls Christians to live a life of love. And to be sure that His followers understood what true love really is, He showed them. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16 Love is self-sacrificing.
Paul’s eloquent description of the characteristics of this kind of self-sacrificing love is one of the most quoted passages of literature throughout history. Here is just a part of the Love Chapter, 1Corinthians 13. “Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged. It is never glad about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.” 1Corinthians 13: 4-7 (New Living Translation)
Christians who ask for God’s help in living out this kind of love in their lives, will have something of real value to share with their families and the world – a true, unselfish, and heaven-born love.
