Remember

(Katie)
As most of you know, I LOVE a good book. Devotions for a Sacred Marriage by Gary Thomas is a book that has provided me with immense wisdom the first 6 months of marriage. The book is like vitamins for your marriage. Here is an excerpt from something I read earlier this week from A Soul Filled with God:


"Personal worship is an absolute necessity for a strong marriage. It comes down to this: If I stop receiving from God, I start demanding from others. Instead of appreciating and loving and serving others, I become disappointed in them. Instead of cherishing my wife, I become aware of her shortcomings. I take out my frustrations with a less-than-perfect life and somehow blame her for my lack of fulfillment. But when my heart gets filled by God’s love and acceptance, I’m set free to love instead of worrying about being loved. I’m motivated to serve instead of becoming obsessed about whether I’m being served. I’m moved to cherish instead of feeling unappreciated (p.9)."


Although Thomas' words are spoken in the context of marriage, personal worship is an absolute necessity for strong relationships.When we don't receive love and acceptance from God first, we start demanding it from our friendships, families, and spouses to degrees that they were never created to fulfill. Instead of cherishing our relationships, we are constantly disappointed.


Last night, James and I were blessed to spend the evening with Neelie and Stephen Guelly (worship/college pastors for our church). They are an incredible couple full of wisdom and joy. What I loved most about the evening is that it centered around each of us telling stories, remembering when we first fell in love with Jesus and then our spouses.


Although I grew up in an incredible Christian family, I didn't actually encounter Jesus' unconditional love until my confirmation mission trip to Colorado in 9th grade. We arrived in Denver and my youth pastor gave me bagels and coffee and instructed me to spend the next 3 hours feeding the poor. To be honest, growing up in Edina, I was a bit terrified and quite concerned about my safety. But, when I got on the bus 3 hours later, I was a different person. I know that sounds dramatic, but I encountered the love of Jesus in each person that I fed. I specifically remember meeting Laura, a 16 year old (my age) who was pregnant, addicted to drugs, made money as a prostitute, and had run away from home. When I fist approached her, she took my bag of bagels and threw them saying she didn't need my help. As a sensitive person, I was shocked that her obvious rejection of me didn't turn me away. Clearly God was at work. Instead, I stated asking her questions and she told her life story. I remember thinking that I normally would probably judge her but instead I became overwhelmed with love..I couldn't stop crying... and I held her in my arms for 45 minutes. A boldness came upon me that I had never experienced before and I started sharing with her how much God loved her. As I walked away, it finally hit me that how I responded to Laura is exactly how God responded to me in all of my sin. He pursues me and has an unconditional posture of openness towards me even at my lowest moments. A light bulb went on and my life completely changed. I didn't just intellectually know Jesus, I encountered His love for me through loving Laura. I decided to quit basketball, a sport I had invested my entire life in up until that point, because I really wanted to get involved in church and pursue a relationship with Jesus. The trajectory of my life forever changed as I entered high school.


In Revelation, God tells the Church of Ephesus that although He knows of their good deeds, hard work and perseverance, "Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first." He then implores the church of Ephesus to "Remember therefore." It was edifying for me to remember last night when I radically encountered Jesus' love for the first time and how this love encounter radically changed my life. Obviously, I am still a new creation in process daily, however, in retelling the story, something is ignited in my heart that increases my desire to spend time with Jesus. I think that Revelation reveals that God designed remembering to trigger us to return to our first love, Jesus. 


When we receive love from our first love Jesus, before our spouses, friends, or family members, we can actually appreciate our relationships as God intended us to rather than becoming disappointed. 


So friends, take time this week to REMEMBER.