Love Demonstrated

And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”

Matthew 22:37 (ESV)

Today I invited Ken to “take over” this day’s devotional and share some of his thoughts with you:

Often in the first year or two of our marriage, I felt more than overwhelmed by Joni’s disability and all its routines. But now as I look back on 41 years of marriage, I thank God for everything we have gone through. The difficult times in our journey together were high hurdles for us both, but we wouldn’t trade the blessings for anything. It’s been a long journey, well-fought for and filled with invaluable lessons.

When Joni was first diagnosed with cancer in 2010, Jesus and I had some long conversations. With my wife living so many decades in a wheelchair, I kept asking God: “Why? Why Joni? After all this time, why would you allow her to have this cancer?”

I came to understand that as human beings who love Christ, how do we show our love for him? We say we love him, but we don’t always back it up with our actions. Joni’s battle with cancer was a chance for us to do that. When things got hard, it was an opportunity to show, in a tangible way, that we trust God as the Sovereign Lord over even cancer.

As we age, we both know there will be more medical diagnoses we’d rather not face. But we’re keeping our sights on the fact that in every case, God calls us to show him how much we love him. And for that, we are thankful.

When Christ came, he said that he came to serve. All the years we’ve been married, I’ve been given the chance to serve in the way Jesus did: with love and sacrifice. I love Joni and would sacrifice anything for her with her quadriplegia. It’s also been my special way to prove that, yes, I love Jesus. And whatever happens in the future? Joni and I will view each problem as another chance to give evidence of our faith and to make good on our loving words to the Lord.

Are you going through a hard time? In what ways can you show that you trust Jesus in it?

Pray with Me: God, thank you for the opportunities you’ve given me to show my love for you. Thank you for modeling servant-hearted love so that I have a model of how to love others. Grow in me a love that comes straight from you.