“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” ~Deuteronomy 6:5
Fourteen years ago, I walked down the aisle and made a promise to love another human being with all my heart, with all my soul, and with all my strength. I promised to do this for better or worse, richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, and until death do we part. Quite the promise. I made a promise to love another human being unconditionally under every circumstance, no matter what…with all my heart. Could I possibly love someone that much…in the way God loves me?
The honest answer…not even close! Yes, I love my husband, but trust me when I say that there are times when my heart, soul, and strength hold anything but love! But we push through. Sometimes tears are shed, sometimes laughter emerges, but love always prevails. And I believe stronger than before.
And I’ve never once thought of my husband as nothing less than a gift from God and He has had His hand over us from the moment we first met. He’s been there with us through every trial, every tear, every bit of laughter, all the joy and celebration. God has been there at the highest of highs and more so at the lowest of lows. God has been there when I’ve forgotten Him…or just wanted to ignore Him all together. God loves us beyond anything anyone can comprehend…He loves us as He wants us to love Him…with all our heart, all our soul, and all our strength.
This week, I started a new bible study and one of the topics was what it means to love God with all your heart. I think we “practice” that love with how we love others, especially the one we walked down the aisle with and promised to love unconditionally. I would like to think that the way I love my husband is a fraction of how God loves me. And I would like to believe that with each passing day, I love God just that much more!
I think to love God with everything I have takes more work than I could possibly imagine, so, God has given me something to practice that unconditional love on…day in and day out…because practice makes perfect! Each day, whether I know it or not, my heart, soul, and strength love God just a little more because of the love I’m able to give away to others!
I am forever grateful for the gift I can give. Lord, thank you!
Finding Myself 
Thank you for this post! I’m in the same study and I have been struggling with what it looks like to love God. You have made me aware of the things I already do everyday to show how I love God, and I’m going to keep on “practicing.” I look forward to reading more from you!
I love the illustration….thank you for posting. Yes, he gives us lots of practical ways to show how we love Him! I’m also doing the Bible study. Blessings!
What a great illustration – as we love our husbands unconditionally we must also love God unconditionally. Loved reading this today!
Great blog post Jayne. You are so right, we just need to keep practicing. I have often thought of the love I feel for my children and been in awe of the fact that that’s how God loves us, but even more so. And he is definitely the one who gives us the ability to share unconditional love with others. I look forward to reading more of your blog. 🙂
I LOVE this post! Your analogy is absolutely spot on, I believe! Ever since I met my wonderful husband, I have watched him putting God’s love into action, the way he loves me unconditionally. In fact, in our pre-marriage counseling over the winter that was what my answer was to the question “What do you love most about Steve?”. I answered that aside from my late brother, Steve is the first person to love me totally and unconditionally, the way the Bible says that God loves us. Thank you so much for sharing this with us. I feel blessed to learn with you in our small group.
Hugs and blessings,
Jen S.
I think we are in CONSANT practice for sure! Inspiring and wonderful write up!!! I am truly amazed how everyone has a story, yet we all have one thing in common saying yes to the Lord! It’s amazing to see how we all have similar thoughts in yet such different ways! Following your blog via the blog hop, hope you can stop by my page! =) coloradoblessedmom.wordpress.com
You are right on point sister! God bless you.
I enjoyed this very much and I loved the correlation between marriage and our relationship with God. We really can’t fathom what it means to love like God, but thank goodness he has given us the Holy Spirit to transform us daily.
“God has given me something to practice that unconditional love on…day in and day out…because practice makes perfect!” What a great way to look at not only our husbands and children, but also those we come in contact with on a daily basis in some form or other. As we continue to “practice,” it is becomes more of Him and less of us. Thank you for sharing your heart with us. I have been blessed by your words.
I too need to “practice” more. Thank you for these words, many blessings to you.