What Happens When Someone Loves you Like Jesus Does

What an outlandish thought...right? That an imperfect human could ever duplicate the love of Christ to another imperfect human.

How many times have I run from God? Told Him that He could have every part of me...except...fill in the blank. How many times have I tried to understand, comprehend, and explain His love, trying in vain to wrap my tiny human mind around the vastness and depth of His unfailing love, only to be left feeling confused, content, grateful, and undeserving when I fail? I have told God that He must not really know me, or else He wouldn't love me like He does...wouldn't extend such unceasing grace to me on a moment by moment basis. But the beauty of this paradox is that not only does He really know me, but He knows every part of me because He created me, and He loves me anyway.

It seems only natural that if a human were to show glimpses of that same type of love to us, we would fight it and say, "No, I'm not that good. Just wait until you really get to know me, and you'll see all my flaws," or even try to convince them that there's no way they could love us as much as they do...they're just blinded by love and need to wait until those rose-colored glasses come off so they can make a true judgement of us. Now of course, it is impossible for humans to love perfectly, simply because of our human nature. And, naturally, we see all our own flaws more than others do usually, so it's difficult for us to believe that someone could love us not only in spite of those things, but maybe, just maybe, because of those things.

But here's a radical thought: What if the person we're meant to marry is meant to love us like Jesus does? What if it's more misleading to believe that no one could love us like that than it is to believe that they can, or even that they should? I'm not saying that you should hold your significant other to the standard of Christ's perfect love, but Jesus did command us saying, "²⁵ Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her....²⁸ So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; ²⁹ for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, ³⁰ because we are members of His body." (Ephesians 5:25, 28-30).

This may seem obvious to some people, like, "Duh, you shouldn't settle for anyone who doesn't love you like that!", but when you are accustomed to not feeling good enough or like you don't deserve that kind of love, it's a pretty radical thought when you start to grasp it. I am brought to tears by the realization that I thought I knew what God's love was. I thought I understood the passion with which He pursues me. I thought I knew how much He loved and cherished me and adored every part of me. Until now. This gives me a whole new perspective and I'm realizing that I have been given the closest thing I'll ever have to God's unabashed, unfailing, and undeserved love here on earth. And I don't have to worry about not being perfect, about letting him down or not living up to his standards. When someone loves you like Jesus does, they see past your flaws. They love you for you, and don't hold you to impossible standards, but choose to love you...just because. And you can rest in that and not run from it, try to earn it, or fight it. Accept it as a free gift, and love back as hard as you can for the same reasons.

I am loved. I am adored. I am cherised. And I am thankful.