Love Quiz

Truthfully, I probably should have put this quiz before the marriage devotional, but there you are. It is what it is.

1. Is the other person’s happiness more important than your own?
2. Do you work at keeping love alive in your heart?
3. Do you consciously practice love that is good for your beloved?
4. Do you give strength to the person who loves you?
5. Do you give courage and compassion to the person who loves you?
6. Do you appreciate your loved one?
7. Is your love something you do, not just something you feel?

Dr. Anna Mow said that every time she was upset with her husband she baked him a pie. Love is more than a personal feeling. Love is something you do for your beloved. Pardon me while I change the occasional word in the scripture below to portray this truth.

“You’re familiar with the old written law, ‘Love your SPOUSE’ and its unwritten companion, ‘Hate your enemy.’ I’m challenging that. I’m telling you to love your SPOUSE Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When YOUR SPOUSE gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer, for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves. This is what God does. He gives his best—the sun to warm and the rain to nourish—to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty. If all you do is love the lovable SPOUSE , do you expect a bonus? Anybody can do that. If you simply say hello to YOUR SPOUSE , do you expect a medal? Any run-of-the-mill SPOUSE does that. (Matthew 5:44-47, MSG)

Father, help us be the kind of spouses who both give and receive love. Amen.