This Kind of Love

"Mommy, do you love me more than anybody in the whole wide world?" My young mind fully expected the answer to be something like, 'Of course! You know you and your sister are the center of my universe!' Instead, I experienced a revelation so shocking that I still remember it today. "Actually no, I love your Daddy more," she said. Upon seeing my bottom lip poke out, she continued, "I love you and Tiff a lot in a different way, but God says I'm supposed to love Daddy more than anyone else. One day you'll get married and you'll love your husband more than you love me." To which I sulkily replied, "I will NOT!" "Yes, you will, and I'll be okay with that. That's how God says it should be."

I can still picture that-little-me sitting by myself in our den, thinking about this. My Mom had always been my go-to source for everything, so this was quite a big idea to take in. One day I would love a boy more?! No way. But then, amazingly, the light bulb turned on. I realized I actually felt more secure knowing that Momma loved Daddy more. And this is my first memory of thinking about my future husband, and being excited about loving him more than anybody in the whole world! (Yeah, I don't think I ever went through a 'boys are gross!' stage.)

Now that I'm older and know that a marriage symbolizes Jesus' (man) love for the church (and wife) I can't imagine a greater love than that. Last night in Bible study, my girls and I talked about how often nowadays this kind of love is distorted. We get it wrong all the time. We aren't supposed to love our kids more than our spouses. We aren't supposed to love our families more than God. And for goodness sakes we aren't supposed to love ourselves more than anything at all.

True security only comes from one love. This kind of love is humble, giving, unconditional...it's the love that God first gave to us, while we were yet sinners. It's an undeserved love. It's a love that cannot be rivaled by any earthly relationship, yet we try to replace it frequently with 'cheaper' loves. It's a love that is supposed to be symbolized in marriage. This kind of love is what my Mom was talking about (they've been married 40 years!!) and what I hope to share in a marriage. This kind of love is what saved me.


*Because ya'll know I love music...and this song is perfect for this. Love it!