To all the sophomores in Circles this week: I’m sorry if this freaks you out. Last month I married my 10th grade boyfriend. Eight years after meeting in math class, crossing invisible lines in the cafeteria to sit together at lunch, and going to prom together, we tied the knot!
That may make it sound like we had the perfect high school sweetheart love story, but our relationship wasn’t smooth sailing all the way from Algebra to the altar. We liked everything about each other, but couldn’t seem to make it work. We cared for one another, but would hurt each other then struggle to forgive. Something was missing, but we didn’t know what it was. We broke up, moved away from each other, and reconnected a year later. Something was different. We worked. We loved each other selflessly and put each other’s needs first. We prayed for each other and our relationship. We had a new, strong foundation and I came to experience being loved and cared for better than I ever knew possible. He proposed and I said YES.
While I was writing my vows, I began reflecting on our journey. We went from high schoolers who wanted to be together but were lacking something, to fiances with a strong foundation of love. The difference was obvious and easily identifiable. During our year apart, we both came to develop our own personal relationships with Jesus. We got to know God and accepted His love for us. We began to read the Bible and aim to live our lives like Christ, loving others the way He loves us. And let me tell you something, Jesus’ love changed everything.
READ: 1 JOHN 4:7-11
“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”
God is the foundation of all love. In order to love others the best you can, you need to start with understanding love at its source: Jesus.
Spend time with God in prayer. Read through the New Testament and you will quickly learn that Jesus loved others radically and perfectly. Accept God’s love, grace, and forgiveness and allow God to transform you into someone who loves others with those same qualities!
Your heart softens when you feel loved by Jesus.
Your confidence soars when you learn you are loved by Jesus for exactly who you are. Your ability to forgive increases when you know God has forgiven you.
And your relationships become built on a strong foundation when you love others the same way Christ has shown you love.