Recipe for Pancakes-Part 13

Now, that we have covered and protected our spouses and have believed who they are when God is through with them, it is time to put action to it.

Love hopes all things.

This phrase means to put trust in.  It is faith in action.  It is one thing to say you believe who they are in Christ; it is something different to put trust in that person, not what they are acting like but who they actually are in Christ.

OK...this might sound kind of crazy but everything that this passage of Scripture has pushed us toward has sounded crazy.  I guess that is just agap'e....crazy God love.  So hear it goes...this means to put all your eggs in one basket!  And not your basket...God's basket!


Let me explain...when we come to the saving knowledge of Jesus, He expects us to put all of our hope in Him.  He is to be the source of everything for us.  The source of our dreams, our aspirations, our desires, our faith, our abilities...basically, our life.  He is to be everything.  Jesus wants all of our eggs in His basket.  This means your spouse, as well.

How does this apply to our marriages?  Well, I believe that it means to always set yourself up for witnessing the best in your spouse.  Not the best that your spouse can be on their own but the best that they can be through Christ.  It is easy to get your hopes up and feel completely crushed when that person (the physical person before your eyes) lets you down.  But, when your hope has been put in Jesus and what He can do with them, it is much harder to be...dare I say, impossible...to be let down by the person that He is still making.

Yes, we know this goes against our natural way of thinking and reasoning but all of these love traits have.  Should we go easy on ourselves now?  We have come so far and put up with so much that it would be easier to finish it and see what God will do than for us to throw in the towel.

When we see our spouse not acting the way that we have believed them to be it should not be a source of discouragement.  Them acting out the way they are is only a sign to us that God is still working on them.  Or maybe He is still working on us...getting us to the place that we fully trust and hope in Him.

Isn't that the point that He is trying to get us to?  To fully trust and hope in Him...through our expression of love to our spouses.

Philippians 1:6

And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you,

will continue his work until it is finally finished

on the day when Christ Jesus returns.

And you thought that this love thing was about changing your spouse?

Josh and Serena