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1 year ago
The Bride of Christ or “You’re Beautiful”
Over the past few months my church, Kings Valley Wesleyan, has been singing “You’re Beautiful” by Phil Wickham.
One of the verses says, “We’ll enter in as the wedding bells ring, Your bride will come together and we’ll sing… You’re beautiful.”
The idea that we are the bride of Christ is something I’ve been reflecting a lot on recently. More specifically, I’ve been thinking about how my marriage (to Amanda) should be a reflection of our marriage (as the Church) to Christ.
In theory, marriage then becomes ridiculously easy. How do I want Jesus to treat me? If he is our husband (including mine), how do I want him to act? What does he do that makes me feel loves, supported, cared for, etc.? Whatever that is, that is how I should be treating Amanda.
Christ showed serious sacrifice for us. How can I sacrifice for Amanda? Christ tells us the truth, regardless of the fact that sometimes we don’t want to hear it. I need to be honest with Amanda at all times. Christ works hard and provides for us. (“In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.” John 14:2 - which by the way, was apparently a common phrase used in the first century by Jewish men when they proposed marriage.)
I could list a lot more examples, but the bottom line is that I am supposed to love my wife as Christ loves the Church. However Christ loves me, I should be transferring that to Amanda.
Similarly, however I want Amanda to treat me, I need to model that for her by acting in those ways towards Christ. How I relate to Jesus shows Amanda how she can relate with me. So all the times that I choose not to read my Bible, pray, or generally show that my relationship with God is unimportant, what I am communicating to Amanda is that she can take the same lackadaisical approach to our marriage.
But I want Amanda to love me. I want her to respect me. I want her to be proud of me and trust me. How can I model those things for her? How can I show her what love, respect and trust look like via my relationship with Christ? Those are the things I should be modeling for her.
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