“O what wondrous love I see!” So begin the words of the familiar hymn.
Love is a beautiful sight to behold, exhibiting compassion and concern, affection and appreciation, sacrifice and support. Mankind’s efforts to portray love span from the East to the West, from Shakespearean dramas to Chinese myths, from royalty to poverty, yet the most beautiful exhibitions of love always involve Christ.
O What Wondrous Love I See by Beholding Christian Couples.
Paul’s exhortation to husbands rings through the centuries: “Husbands, love your wives” (Ephesians 5:25). His summons for wives echoes through the ages, for they are to learn “to love their husbands” (Titus 2:4).
Hearts swoon over fictional couples: Romeo and Juliet, Rhett and Scarlett, or Aladdin and Jasmine. As endearing as these tales may be, they pale when compared to the real-life love of wedded saints who spent decades living their lives together for Christ: Garland and Corinne, Curtis and Annette, Keith and Dorothy, just to name a few. Love is the aged Christian husband who still darts his aged body a step or two ahead to open every door for his Christian bride. Love is the middle-aged Christian husband who cannot leave the room without expressing an I-love-you to his wife. Love is the newlywed Christian couple whose commitment to one another has only strengthened their individual commitments to Christ. Love is the unwed Christian couple whose affection and longing for each other is surpassed only by their desire to ensure that their relationship is pure in the eyes of Almighty God.
That sort of love is contagious. That sort of love makes those who see it want to imitate it.
O What Wondrous Love I See by Beholding Christian Parents.
Not only are Christian wives to learn “to love their husbands,” Christian mothers are to learn to “love their children” (Titus 2:4). Fathers are to “bring them up in the nurture and the admonition of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4): This takes love.
As with couples, so with parents, society’s depictions are legion, and some are even respectable: the Cleavers, the Bradys, the Huxtables, or Mufasa and Sarabi. Once again, fiction pales in comparison to real-life Christian exhibitions of parental love. Love is the new parents who do everything possible to have their newborn in worship, training them to be accustomed to the worship environment before the child is old enough to learn anything besides familiar places. Love is the mother who takes her toddler out of the assembly for an uncomfortable lesson in worship behavior, and love is the father who commits to leading the family in Bible time every day, developing a routine that will define his child’s life. Love is the parent whose children are taught that sporting events never eclipse the importance of assembling with the saints. Love is the couple who make sure their children understand that even though mom and dad might make mistakes, God and His Word are always right. Love is the father who lets his wayward son know that his impenitent sin cannot be accepted, and love is the mother who never forfeits hope in her son’s restoration while refusing to condone her adult baby’s iniquity.
That sort of love is exemplary, and it teaches those who see it to practice it.
O What Wondrous Love I See by Beholding Christ’s Church.
Jesus exhorted His disciples to “love one another” (John 13:34). In fact, He made it clear that this was a defining trait of His people: “By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another” (John 13:35).
When Paul penned 1 Corinthians 13, he was not officiating a wedding, he was giving the ultimate prescription for a congregation in chaos and schism: they needed to practice the best gift, the gift of love (1 Corinthians 12:31; 13:4-8).
What a sight to behold when Christians are patient with one another instead of getting angry over the slightest misstep, when brethren are kind to one another and use soft answers instead of grievous words (Proverbs 15:1), when saints are selfless rather than envying and exalting self and acting arrogantly, when church members are considerate instead of rude, altruistic instead of opinionated, temperate rather than provokable, and erasers of errors instead of keepers of scores (1 Corinthians 13:4-5). Love is Christians rejoicing in Godly truth, bearing with each other, believing in each other, hoping for each other, and enduring beside each other (1 Corinthians 13:6-7).
This sort of love never fails (1 Corinthians 13:8). O what a sight to see!
O What Wondrous Love I See by Beholding Christ.
“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). Jesus said it. Jesus did it.
O what wondrous love! “For God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son” (John 3:16). “But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
Love is Deity being born into poverty. Love is the Creator walking with His created. Love is Heaven’s Son showing earth’s children how to walk this earth in order to stand in Heaven. Love is the prayer He uttered in Gethsemane (Matthew 26:36-39). Love is the scourging He endured before Gabbatha (John 19:13). Love is the crucifixion He faced upon Golgotha (John 19:17-18).
For me (Galatians 2:20)! He faced this for me!
That sort of love is contagious. That sort of love makes those who see it want to imitate it.
That sort of love is exemplary, and it teaches those who see it to practice it.
That sort of love never fails (1 Corinthians 13:8). O what a sight to see!
That sort of love moves a soul to heed His Words (John 14:15).
O what wondrous love! May God help us to see it! May God help us to live it!
– Scott Cain