Devotionals Daily: A Year with Jesus – January 16

Devotionals Daily: A Year with Jesus

From Sanctuary, by David Jeremiah

Love Authentically

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her. – Ephesians 5 :25

Christ loved the church with an authentic love. By that, I mean it was real. It wasn’t fantasy; it was the church as the church is. It was you and me as we were and as we are. Christ was under no illusion when He sought us in love. And of course, that is the way husbands are to love their wives— with realistic, authentic love.

We must recognize that our love will embrace all of our wife’s faults and failures and all of her unlovable and disagreeable elements. When a young couple enters into marriage with unrealistic expectations, it doesn’t take long before those expectations are brought back down to earth. Marriage is a mixture of ideals and reality. It’s a wonderful thing to know that Christ loves us as we were and continues to love us as we are. He loves us in spite of our sins. Christ’s love for us is not idealized, romanticized, or stylized. It is simply authentic, meeting sinners like us exactly where we are.

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Written in the same style as Jesus Calling®, Jesus Today™contains all-new devotions for a hope-filled walk with God. Born out of missionary Sarah Young’s own trials, Jesus Today shows that hope shines brightest in adversity. Grow in grace, hear from God, and walk with Jesus Today.

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