(~) An Amazing Love

Here is the entire text of a love letter intercepted by a second grade schoolteacher, passed on to a parent:

"Dear Billy, if you don't say you love me and walk to the bus stop with me I will kill myself and beet you up. I love you and wan to marry you soon. Suzy"

The little girl was eight at the time. The parent showed the preacher the letter at the rehearsal dinner the day before Suzy married Billy. Suzy was twenty-four. During the wedding service, he shared the letter with the guests, and in her vows, had Suzy repeat these words: "I, Suzy, promise you, Billy, never to kill myself or beat you up."

He later said, "If the marriage lasts as long as her love, and her love is as large as the laughter in the ceremony, the odds are good for a happy ever after."

We'll do some amazing things in the name of love, won't we? And the deeper our love, the more extreme our willingness is. That's why a mother is willing to stay up all night tending to a sick child. It's why a godly husband will sacrifice all that he holds dear to care for his wife (Eph. 5:25-28). And, in the most extreme example, it's why Jesus Christ was willing to give up his very life for us when we least deserved it.

"Look at it this way: At the right time, while we were still helpless, Christ died for ungodly people. Finding someone who would die for a godly person is rare. Maybe someone would have the courage to die for a good person. Christ died for us while we were still sinners. This demonstrates God's love for us." (Romans 5:6-8, GOD'S WORD)

May God's example of love motivate us to have a stronger love in our marriages, our families, our churches and all of our other relationships.

Have a great day!

Alan Smith