“Watch what God does, and then do it, like children
who learn proper behavior from their parents.
Mostly what God does is love you.
Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious, but extravagant. He didn’t love in order to get something, but
to give everything of himself to us.
Love like that.”
Ephesians 5:1-2 MSG
Wow! There is so much to learn from this scripture…
If you are one of my single friends, please don’t check out
yet. Although the story I share below
pertains to marriage, there is something in this for you too. Extravagant love applies to every
relationship, friendships included. We
see the definition of love, sacrifice and service through this verse and the life of
Jesus.
At the beginning of my relationship with my husband I would
have special days like Valentine’s Day, anniversaries, and vacations planned
out in my mind. I had all these romantic
ideas about how the day would go, and I expected them to play out just how I
had imagined. As you can imagine,
figuring my husband was not a mind reader, I often found myself
disappointed. I somehow was shocked that
he didn’t get the memo I had sent him over brain waves.
A year after we had our first child we went on our first
weekend getaway without her. It was just
him and I, and I had the whole romantic weekend planned out in my mind. I remember sitting on the balcony of our
hotel room having my quiet time the first morning of our trip, and God led me
to this verse in the Message translation.
He spoke right to my expectations and called me to lay them all down and
just love my husband extravagantly, without expecting anything in return. That trip turned out to be one of my
favorites of all time. We had so much
fun together and truly enjoyed each other’s company.
Maybe you are like me and have something special for
Valentine’s Day planned out in your mind.
Might I challenge you to lay down your expectations, and love like
Christ? Don’t be cautious. Go all out in love—love extravagantly, but
don’t expect anything in return. Love
not to get something, but give yourself fully.
Do what God does…love extravagantly.
