Early in our marriage, Carolyn and I decided we would tell each other one reason we love each other every day. My memory is a little fuzzy, but I think Rod Stewart’s release of “Have I Told You Lately” the year Carolyn and I met had something to do with it.
I ain’t gonna lie. We don’t do this every day. But every so often we are wise to renew the practice.
If you’ve been married for any length of time, you know that there are some days when answering that question takes more work than others. Take heart! It is the days when it’s work that I really know it’s an act of love.
M. Scott Peck said, “If an act is not one of work or courage, then it is not love.”
It is this working and courageous kind of love that sustains marriages, families, friendships and churches for life.
I was reminded of this while reading 1Corinthians in preparation for worship this Sunday. Paul who wrote this letter to Corinth begins with a word of thanksgiving for the community to which he writes.
“I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. For in him you have been enriched in every way – with all kinds of speech and knowledge – God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you.” 1 Corinthians 1:4-6
Don’t think for a minute that these words of love weren’t work for Paul. It might have been easier for him to launch into a long list of criticism. Corinth was a church riddled with problems and Paul would eventually address those. But despite all the present problems, Paul sees this church as the work of God in the world, and he discerns in their midst gifts for which God is to be thanked.
Would you like to see your marriage, your friendships, your family, your church as the work of God in the world? Then I encourage you to follow the example of Paul and Rod Stewart . . . . do the work of telling them why you love them.
